Ninjas! Thousands of them
by one big cameo
Summary: A spinoff that has over 30 original characters. Starts off slow, but really picks up in action and drama.
1. Chapter 1

In the village of Konohagakure, the way of the shinobi is the way of life. Classes of cadets gathered to be trained. After they pass this class, they are split into cells of three and given a jonin teacher for further training. The final exams for the cadets occur now…

Chapter 1

"The final test is to transform into me. And as an added bonus, I'll pick the best me for a special treat," said Master Ai, "Let's see…let's get Saratobi down here first." A young girl got up from her seat and stepped forward to stand in front of Ai. "Alright, transform!" Saratobi yelled. She made a hand sign and turned into an almost flawless Ai. "Very good! Now, stand over there. Next, Gaku." Ai commanded.

While that was happening, the Kashime brothers sat all the way in the back, bored. "Transformations? What kind of final test is that? Does he think we're pansies?" Daisuke complained. He's the older brother by nine months. He favors conventional weapons, like swords, over ninja tools, such as shuriken or kunai. He can be a loudmouth, but he's got the greatest sense of justice.

"It does seem easy…" Korosu thought aloud. Korosu is, ironically, the master of ninja tools. He found throwing needles to be his forte. He doesn't talk much, and that mysteriousness creeps some people out.

"I mean really, didn't we just do this the other week?" Daisuke continued.

"Daisuke! It appears you want to tell us something?" Ai asked, annoyed.

"Don't do it…" Korosu whispered, but it didn't get to Daisuke's brain.

"YEAH!" he cried, "Why is this so easy!" Ai smirked and motioned for Daisuke to come down. He did, and stood in front of Ai.

"Well, Mr. Kashime…" then Ai punched Daisuke so hard, he spun back into Saratobi.

"Eww! Get off me!" she shrieked.

Daisuke jumped up and transformed into Ai. "There, are we happy?" he asked. Ai nodded.

"Korosu, while your brother's down here, you might as well be next." He said. Korosu sighed and transformed into Ai while walking down the steps. "Excellent as always. Next is…"

Daisuke stuck his tongue out at his brother, "Show off."

That's how it is. The next day, everyone returned to class for cell divisions. "Who do you wanna be hooked up with, bro?" Daisuke asked, looking around.

"…hmm…Well, that Hyuga boy seems good. And Zawato appears like a great ninja." Korosu said.

"This just in, we're not ninja yet. Anyway, I'd want Fey or Bijin with me…oh! Or Satsuma." Daisuke began thinking very deeply, grinning.

"Daisuke, those people you named off…are all girls." Korosu pointed out.

"So!" Daisuke cried.

Korosu folded his hands, "The ratio of males to females has it so only one girl will be in each cell." He said.

Daisuke's heart broke. "What idiot made that rule?" he asked, sadly.

"The First Hokage, the creator of this village." Ai answered from his desk at the bottom floor. "Now, to the matters at hand. Korosu, you made the best me at the tests yesterday, so I'll allow you to choose one person to have in your cell with you and someone else. When it's your turn, that is. First cell…ready?" Ai looked up at all of his students. "First cell contains Gaku, Jin, and Bijin."

Gaku lowered his head, "Not Bijin…"

Daisuke, too, lowered his head. "Not Bijin…" he sighed. "Well, at least Fey is out there."

Ai looked back at his clipboard. "Cell two is Zawato, Isshinta, and Fey." Zawato slowly nodded. Isshinta shivered and his eyes started watering. "Cell three…oh! What do we have here? Daisuke, Korosu, and Saratobi. Very unique combination, if Korosu picks Daisuke." The brothers grinned at each other.

"You were my 5th choice." Korosu whispered.

"So I guess you do choose him…moving on…" Ai started.

Saratobi stood up, drawing the classes' attention to her. "Please master Ai, not the Kashime brothers! One's a cocky pervert and the other is creepy! Can't I get normal teammates?"

Ai studied her. "I think you can handle it. Korosu won't bother you, and if Daisuke does, let me know. Anyway, cell four is Sasuma, Satsuma, and Setsuko…how…annoying…" Saratobi looked up at Daisuke. He blew a kiss at her, causing her to duck in fear.

Later, the three new teammates sat alone in a small room, waiting. "I wonder who our new teacher will be. I hope it's a woman." Daisuke said, balancing his sword on his nose.

"You're such a pervert, Daisuke. I swear, if you try anything on me, it'll be your life! KARMA!" Daisuke sheathed his sword and checked her out. She had dark blue hair, of medium length. Her clothes, to Daisuke were a desperate cry for a boyfriend. She had one yellow eye and one red eye. The red one was a family trait of hers. It doesn't do anything, as far as everyone knows, but it's quite beautiful. Her personality is what could use a tweaking. "And you!" she cried, pointing at Korosu, "Say something! Smile! Cry! Do something!" Daisuke waved his hands in front of her.

"Calm down! Our teacher could…" just then, the door slid open. In walked in a firm man, though not muscular.

"S'up. My name is Kishimoto Gensai, and your lives are in my hands now."

After days of light training, Gensai readied the group for their first mission. "We'll start with a D rank, of course. The ranks go up to A, but they're reserved for jonin, like me." Gensai explained.

"What kind of mission is it? Assassination?" Daisuke asked.

"No, you idiot! That's an A rank mission." Saratobi said.

"Very good. No, it's not an assassination, but it's almost as fun…we're going to help a cat out of a tree!" Gensai cried.

"Get down here, you stupid animal." Daisuke groaned, climbing a tree. The cat hissed and scratched his face off. Korosu walked up the tree and grabbed the cat. He threw it down to Saratobi, who gave it to the owner.

_"I think we're ready to get your stats registered to shinobi cards now." Said Gensai, two days previous to the cat incident. _

_"Shinobi cards?" Saratobi repeated, "What are they?" _

_Gensai pulled out three cards and revealed them to his students, "These were mine when I was a genin like you. They show your stats. A lot of ninja collect them. If you can get good stats, or at least specialize in one area, other shinobi will recognize you." _

_Daisuke got excited. "I want some!" he cried. _

_"Great. Then let's go to the registration desk at the academy." Gensai brought them to a room with funny gadgets all over. "First, we'll check your Taijustu, or physical strength. Daisuke, go punch that target." _

_Daisuke went up to the machine. "Here goes!" He punched with great force. The machine analyzed and processed data. _

_"Excellent Taijustu. Rank A." Gensai smiled. _

_"Nice! Better than I was!" Korosu also punched the machine. _

_"Fair Taijustu. Rank C." _

_Daisuke laughed, "Weakling!" _

_Next, Saratobi punched it. _

_"Poor Taijustu. Rank F." She frowned. _

_"F is a rank? I had no idea." Gensai said to himself, causing Daisuke to laugh harder. Even Korosu chuckled. "Next is Ninjustu. Ninja Arts, in other words. Like transformations and copying." Gensai pointed to a platform. "Stand on that, Daisuke. This is one of two stats that I get to rate you." Daisuke stood unsteady on the platform. "Become me." Gensai commanded. Daisuke did so, and became three more of him, under Gensai's directions. "Well. That was…bad. Rank D." Daisuke jumped off the platform. _

_"What the heck! That was rank A material!" he yelled. _

_"Whatever, Daisuke. Korosu?" Gensai asked. Korosu also did the Ninjustu. "Okay. Rank B stuff there, Korosu, next up is our fair lady. Take it away Saratobi." She went up and showed an impressive show. "Great. Rank A! That may be the best Ninjustu in years for a genin!" Gensai cried. Saratobi stuck her tongue out at the other two. _

_"Now we have Ningu. This is ninja tools. Let's see how good you are." Gensai handed a kunai to Daisuke. "Hit the target. Try to make up for that crap Nin." Daisuke angrily threw the kunai and got close to the bulls eye. "Rank C" said a mechanical voice. "Rank A." for Korosu, and "Rank B" for Saratobi. _

_"That was quick and easy. Hurry on to the next one. This is Chi, which are your genetically inherited traits. Here, I'll type in your name and will tell me which clan you come from." Gensai said. Daisuke and Korosu stepped back. _

_"You first." Korosu said to Saratobi. _

_"You guys are weird. Okay! Check me master Gensai!" Gensai nodded and typed in Saratobi's whole name. _

_"You're from the Hoashi clan. That's why your eye is red. It doesn't do too much, I guess, so it gave you rank C for your Chi." Then he looked back at Daisuke. "I only need to get one of you, so I'm going to type in Daisuke's whole name, okay?" The two said nothing. "Okay…You two are from the Kashime clan. I haven't heard of that one yet. You both got rank A too. What's your clan technique?" Gensai asked. _

_"It's…Henshin." Korosu murmured. _

_"Transformation? Impressive." said Gensai. _

_"Wait, transform what?" Saratobi asked, confused. _

_"Anything. Even you." Gensai answered for the brothers. They nodded, and there was stillness. "Oh." Gensai pointed to a smaller room. "One more test. Genjutsu, or illusions." They went into the room and Korosu shut the door behind them, leaving no light in the room. Gensai found a chair in the dark and pulled out a lighter. He lit a candle a sat back. "I'll also be rating you personally here. Saratobi, I wanna see what that eye can do. Your mission: scare me. Let's go." Saratobi calmed herself and focused on her chakra. _

_"Bloody Eye!" Gensai was soon in a room by himself. Two vents broke and blood came pouring in. He was soon drowning, but the illusion ended. _

_"Nice. I'm not too fond of blood. Rank B. Korosu, you're next." Korosu sighed and pulled up his sleeves. Gensai was soon being attacked by giant scorpions. As soon as one of the scorpions' tails made contact, the illusion was over. "Korosu, I'm sorry, but I only felt rank C or D work there." _

_Saratobi jumped for joy. "Yes! I'm gunna have the best Genjutsu! Beat my rank, Daisuke, I dare you!" she cried. _

_"Yeah, let's see if you can get me to wet myself." Gensai said. _

_As Korosu walked back next to the door, he whispered, "Don't go all the way." Daisuke readied himself. He pulled out a kunai and threw it at Gensai. It stuck two inches into his head, and he was frozen. Saratobi shrieked and fell to her knees. _

_"You went way too far Daisuke, you idiot!" she sobbed. "I wanna go home! You're crazy!" she had a dry heave, causing her to shut up. Then, after a moment of stillness, Gensai leaned forward and threw up. "Master! You're alive!" Saratobi cried in relief. Gensai looked up at Daisuke in fear. _

_"I'm sorry." Daisuke said, turning away. _

_"R-r-rank A…" Gensai sputtered. 'Amazing. Not only did it look like he killed me, it felt like it too! This kid has mastered Genjutsu, the hardest art, as a genin!' he thought. Then he jumped out of the seat. "I'm fine! Let's move on." They went back out to the machine room and gathered by a computer. "Here, I'll type in your weapon of choice. Saratobi, you don't have one. Korosu, you use needles, right?" asked Gensai. Korosu nodded. Gensai glanced at Daisuke. "And how about you, Daisuke? Just those dual blades?" Daisuke gave his teacher a weird face. _

_"What do you mean "Just those?" You think I have more?" he asked. _

_"Well, when you got out that kunai, I thought I saw another one. But I guess not…Well, we're done for today, you can go home. Tomorrow we're gunna spar so I can finish your stats."_

Back to the present… "Thank you so much!" cried a young girl, taking the cat in her arms. Daisuke fell off the tree and bled all over the grass. Korosu walked down stared at his brother.

"Good job. And especially you, Korosu. You have good chakra control." Saratobi brushed the cat hair off of her.

"So what's new?" she asked.

"The Chunin Exams. They're in six days." Gensai replied.

"So soon!" Saratobi exclaimed.

"The Hokage realized how skilled this year's genin are. I think you'll pass—most likely. The exams are very dangerous. You up to it?" Gensai asked.

Daisuke threw up his hand from on the floor. "I'm is!" he yelled deliriously.

Six days later, the day of the exams, strange new people began to enter the village hidden in the leaves. They came from all over the world, each headband with a different insignia. Daisuke, Korosu, and Saratobi were walking down the road to the first test, when they caught three teens from the village hidden in the waterfall picking on a little native kid.

"Want your doll back? Jump for it!" teased one of the Waterfall guys. He had wings sprouting from his back, and bombs wrapped around him.

"It's not a doll, it's an action figure!" the native boy yelled, jumping for it.

"Come on, Oiyoba, we're gunna be late." said the Waterfall girl. She looked normal enough.

"Hey!" Saratobi yelled. "Give the boy his doll back!" Everyone looked at her.

"It's not a doll. It's an action figure!" the boy cried.

"Who are you?" Oiyoba asked, annoyed.

"My name is Hoashi Saratobi! Not like you need to know." She replied. "And you need to stop being a dick to that kid! Or else!" Oiyoba took one of his bombs and placed it next to the toy.

"Or else what!" he demanded. Saratobi jumped behind Korosu and pushed him forward.

"Or else he'll fight you!" she said. Korosu looked back her and shook his head.

"So you wanna go?" Oiyoba asked, putting the bomb away and throwing the toy over a fence. Korosu said nothing and stood firm.

"Korosu wouldn't waste his time on you." Daisuke cried from the sidelines. Oiyoba got infuriated and threw a punch at Korosu, which was caught by someone else.

"Huh? Kiyuta?"

A short guy with glasses held Oiyoba's fist, "Enough, Oiyoba. Fuu was right. We'll be late." Then the three Waterfall teens walked away toward the test hall.

"What a bunch of idiots! I could have took 'em all on!" Daisuke said.

"I dunno," Korosu whispered, "That Kiyuta was extremely fast."

Gensai met them at the door to the test hall. "S'up!" he said.

"Master Gensai, what are you doing here?" Daisuke asked.

"Morale boosting! You can do it! I have confidence in you!" he replied.

"What are you really doing?" asked Saratobi.

"Just wanted to remind you of the consequences of failing the exams." Gensai said. "You may have to be a genin your whole life."

They entered and immediately received the stare from every ninja there. "Uh…yo." Daisuke said. Then everyone went back to what they were doing.

"Weird." Saratobi thought out loud.

"Look! It's Saratobi!" called Fey. They looked over and saw Fey motioning for them to come over, which they did.

"Finally you arrive," said Zawato, "We were beginning to think you wouldn't come."

Daisuke grinned, "We got hassled by those three from Waterfall." Isshinta looked over at Oiyoba.

"That guy with the wings seems like the leader figure." he stuttered. Soon, Gaku, Jin, and Bijin gathered around.

"You three see the guys from the village hidden in the mist?" Jin asked. "What about 'em?" Zawato said.

"They're brothers. Like Daisuke and Korosu." Jin replied.

Korosu adjusted his glasses, "It seems we have rivals, brother."

Daisuke nodded, "Yup. And I bet you they won't last a second against us."

Then, a large scarred man rose up from the crowd, "Good afternoon. My name is Morino Ibiki. I'll be your 'teacher' for this part of the exam." He pulled out a small wooden block that had a one painted on it. "Each one of you will get one of these. It will determine were you'll sit for this test. A pencil will be provided." Something fierce hit Gaku, Oiyoba, and Daisuke.

"Crap! Then this is a written test?" Daisuke asked.

"Yes," answered Ibiki, "And it starts now."

Everyone found their seat. The room was full of hopeful ninja, quietly sitting. Ibiki walked in and folded his arms. "I see you all found your seats." Then, jonin appeared in chairs all around the room. "They will be watching your every move in case you cheat. Now let me explain the rules…" he turned around and starting writing on the chalk board. "Now," he started, "You'll start off with ten points, per person, of course. So each cell has thirty points together, for those of you who failed math. For every question wrong, you'll loose a point. Get four or more wrong, and you're out. So you can only have seven through ten correct to pass."

Daisuke lowered his head. "I'm screwed. I can tell." He sat next to Setsuko, of the fourth cell. He had no pupils or irises in his eyes because he's in the Hyuga clan.

"Now, if one person from a cell fails, their whole cell fails."

Saratobi lowered her head. "I'm screwed. I can tell."

Ibiki continued, "If any of the jonin proctors or I catch you cheating, then we'll take two points from the cheater's cell."

Kiyuta removed his glasses to prepare for reading a paper. "So we get five strikes for cheating until you pull us out?" he asked.

Ibiki nodded. "Yes. Five and you're gone, along with your team. I think the rules are clear now. The tests are being handed out. You may start when you get one."

'Alright,' Daisuke thought, 'let's see what we got…' he read the first question, but got confused and started reading the second one. 'The parabola marked B represents the greatest effective distance the enemy shinobi, A, could throw a shuriken star from the top of a twenty-three point three foot tall tree…calculate the specific features of the scenario and deduce the shuriken's effectiveness, assuming a consistent speed for shinobi A's assault upon any enemy shinobi operating within the arc that the flight of the shuriken describes…show your work…………….what the heck does that mean!' he thought. 'Maybe if I start at the end, it'll be easier…Question ten: This question will not be provided until forty-five minutes into the exam….crap.'

Meanwhile, Korosu read all the questions over. 'No way will Daisuke be able to answer these. In fact, I'm quite sure most people here can't. How can they expect every team to pass? At least Saratobi and I can answer them all, I think. I hope Daisuke can get…seven correct…no way.' He sat next to Oiyoba, who took up two seats due to his wings. 'I get it now! They want us to…''cheat!' thought Saratobi, 'like a real ninja would! And we have to try not to get caught! That scarred fool deceived us!'

Ten minutes and two rows in ahead of her, a shuriken came out of nowhere and caught a cheater by surprise. "You're out! Take your teammates!" A jonin yelled.

Jin, meanwhile, realized they had to cheat. 'We're all against each other. It's a cheating frenzy!' he said to himself. 'But lucky for me…I have an unnatural vision advantage. I'll get my answers from the lovely Saratobi in front of me…' Then a mirror appeared on the floor beneath Saratobi. Setsuko used the Hyuga clan specialty, Byakugan, The Evil Eye, to see through one smart person's body, where all correct answers were.

Kiyuta sat with his head down. 'Now, I only should take a few milliseconds, or they'll catch me,' then he disappeared and reappeared in a flash. He looked over all the proctors, and saw one writing something down on his clipboard. 'Darn. They noticed…' he lifted his paper, with all the answers on it. 'But I got what I wanted.'

A huge guy next to Isshinta put both his hands together and closed his eyes. "Foresight!" he whispered. He glanced into the future and sighed. 'I don't have to write anything down at all to pass. Better tell the others…Hayate! Hitomi! This is Ryu! Don't even try cheating! Just wait…' Ryu told his teammates with his mind. A thin guy next to Sasuma nodded. He had a scar over his nose, and long fingernails. 'Got that, Hitomi?' Hayate asked, psychically. A girl with feathers in her hair on the other side of Daisuke put her pencil down and folded her hands.

'What's she doing?' Daisuke asked himself. 'I guess she knows something I don't, because her paper is empty! I'm probably taking a big chance, but I'm not gunna write anything either.'

Forty-five minutes into the exam, after at least half of the cells were gone from getting caught, Ibiki stood up. "Attention! I will now state the tenth question. But first, know this. If you get it wrong, you'll be stuck as a genin…for the rest of your life!" Everyone gasped.

'Forever! That's not fair!' Daisuke thought. Hitomi next to him looked back at Ryu, who nodded. She smiled and sat patiently. 'I'm luckier than a horseshoe being next to her!' Daisuke continued.

Korosu raised an eyebrow when he caught glimpse of his brother's paper, 'You wrote nothing?'

Ibiki looked over the genin. "If you want to fail and try again next year, raise your hand now." He stated.

Immediately, some kid raised his hand. "I'm sorry! I can't do it!" he cried.

A jonin helped his cell out, and Ibiki smiled. "Any one else?" Then four more kids raised their hand. Their cells also left with them, as Ibiki grinned. The genin who gave up shut the door behind them. Then nobody moved. "Well then," Ibiki said, "All of those still here…pass." Everyone was shocked.

"What do you mean, we passed? You didn't even read over our answers!" Gaku yelled.

Fey sighed. "Gaku, don't remind him. I didn't have any answers."

Ibiki chuckled. "The genin are braver every year! If you lasted long enough to reach where you are now, then you a truly a ninja! Congratulations!"

Then a young woman dived through the window. "My name is Mitarashi Anko! I'm the proctor for the second part of the exam! Come on, we're wasting time!" she yelled. She wore nothing but fishnet and a trench coat. Nobody moved; they just sat, either exhausted or confused. "LET'S GO!" Then everybody jumped up and followed Anko out.

"So quick again, Anko! It's not like you're ever late!" Ibiki called out to her.

Later, Ibiki gathered the papers from the tables and looked over Saratobi's and Korosu's. "Two of four who got 'em right without cheating…and the other two were jonin in disguise for people to steal answers from. Impressive." Then he looked at Daisuke's. "But their teammate did badly. For question four he said, your mom…"

Anko led them to a giant forest, in which the trees were the biggest thing mostly anyone had ever seen. There was moss hanging from the branches, and fungus growing like crazy. "This is ground forty-four!" Anko cried. "Also known as the Forest of Death!" Korosu's ears lifted. His name meant 'to kill' and any mention of it caught his attention. "This is where the second exam takes place. Dark setting, isn't it?" Anko continued. "Well, before we get started on the rules, you all have to sign these consent forms so we won't be held liable when half of you die!" she said cheerfully, passing a ton of papers around. "Then submit them over there." She pointed to a booth where four men sat impatiently.

"Daisuke, can I borrow a pen?" Saratobi asked. He glanced at her.

"I was gunna ask the same thing." Then they both looked at Korosu, who shrugged.

"Darn it, doesn't anyone have a pen!" Daisuke cried. Bijin overheard him and handed him a pencil.

"I stole it from the last test." She said. Daisuke blushed at took it.

"Thanks…" After everyone submitted their forms, they crowded around Anko.

"Now, about those rules," she pulled out two scrolls. "This test is set up like capture the flag. There are two scrolls, one of heaven, and one of earth. Your team will be given one at random. The idea here is to get to the center of the forest with all of your teammates alive, with both scrolls. So, yes, you'll have to steal from another team. The catch is: you have no idea which scroll the other team has. Some of you may want to gather extra scrolls to lessen the number of teams that move on…and make me look good! Basically, half of you are gunna lose, no way around it. And now, the time limit…you'll spend five days in there. Food and water are your problem. I recommend having a night watcher, because you'll always be surrounded by enemies." Everyone gasped and talked amongst themselves. "One last thing!" Anko yelled. "You are absolutely forbidden to look at the contents of each scroll! You'll do that when you get inside the central tower!" One team at a time entered the booth, which now had a veil over it.

"Not only don't we know what scroll each team has, but we don't know who's got it." Korosu said.

Daisuke drew his swords. "Somehow, I'm actually looking forward to this!" he cried.

Saratobi shivered in fear. "We could die…" she repeated over and over. Zawato walked up with his cell and sat by them. The six took time to gather their thoughts.

"I hope it doesn't come to us having to fight eachother." Zawato said.

Isshinta blushed. "I-I don't want to hurt you, Saratobi…" he muttered quietly.

"What was that, Isshinta?" Saratobi asked, out of her trance.

Daisuke clanged his two swords together. "Just think of it as a friendly spar. Let's all promise not to kill each other." he said. They all agreed.

"The cell containing Kashime Daisuke, Kashime Korosu, and Hoashi Saratobi, please come get your scroll!" Anko called. The three got up and went into the booth. Setsuko watched Daisuke's cell go in.

"My Evil Eye tells me they have the heaven scroll." He said. Sasuma and Satsuma looked at Setsuko with a frown.

"Man, they'd be the easiest to steal from, but they have the same scroll we do." Satsuma complained.

Sasuma shrugged. "Let's just steal it anyway."

As the third cell of Konoha made their way to their entrance gate, Daisuke chuckled under his breath.

"What's so funny?" Korosu asked. Daisuke showed them the heaven scroll.

"This is really an earth scroll. I know Setsuko is of the Hyuga clan. He watched to see what scroll we got, so I used my superior Genjutsu to make it appear like a heaven scroll!" he replied.  
"Good one!" Saratobi cried.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The gates opened, and all twenty one teams ran in the forest of death. Oiyoba's team initiated their plan right away. Kiyuta sped around at ground level, Fuu took the underground, and Oiyoba flew the mossy sky. Daisuke and Korosu began sprinting throughout the forest.

"Hold up guys!" Saratobi called. Then, a huge claw on a chain shot down from the trees. The three looked up and saw two figures jump down. The one with his claw in the dirt flipped his hair out of his eyes.

"We're the Demon Brothers, from the village hidden in the mist." He said grimly. Daisuke and Korosu looked at eachother. Then they laughed. "What're you laughing at!" the other Demon Brother asked. Daisuke pointed his sword at them.

"We thought you guys would be more intimidating!" he yelled, grinning. Saratobi put her hand on his shoulder.

"Guys, don't push them! I heard they killed their girl teammate for kicks!" she said.

"That's right!" the first brother screamed, "And I'd like to have my claws rip through your flesh just to see what you had for dinner last night!" Korosu took out his needles.

"I'm sure." he said, throwing one. The first Demon jumped back and caught the needle.

"Ha-ha! Is this all!" he asked, viciously. Korosu grinned, and the needle turned into a cobra. The Demon threw it on the ground and jumped back. The other one picked it back up.

"Big deal. It's just an illusion." Korosu shook his head and made a hand sign. The cobra bit the Demon's hand, causing him to cry out in pain, and fall over from the poison.

"What the heck?" The other Demon yelled. Then he was knocked out by the hilt of Daisuke's sword.

"Wow Korosu! That was cool! How'd you do it?" Saratobi asked. Daisuke used the chained claws of the brothers to tie them to a tree.

"That was Henshin. The Kashime clan's ability." Korosu replied, quietly.

"Did you get their scroll, Daisuke?" Daisuke walked over disappointed.

"It was an earth scroll. Now we have two of them," he said, "At least we can make it look like we have both to bluff another team." They continued onward into the Forest of Death's darkness.

Meanwhile, Ryu, Hayate, and Hitomi had stolen a scroll from an unprepared Grass team.

"What kind is it?" Hayate asked, wiping blood from his mouth. Ryu looked at it and emitted smoke from his nostrils.

"Earth. Just what we needed." He said.

Hitomi put her boots back on to cover her clawed feet and giggled, "That was easy! But we still have four more days!"

Hayate stuck his nose in the air and sniffed, "Let's get moving. A team is closing in." Ryu nodded and they jumped away.

"Come on, Daisuke, when do we get to go to sleep? I'm exhausted." Saratobi complained. They'd been walking nonstop all evening. Daisuke was moving forward with speeds unable to obtain after so much walking.

"She's right for once, brother. We have four more days to obtain a scroll. Maybe resting isn't such a bad idea." Korosu said. Daisuke stopped and looked back at them, teary eyed.

"Oh, I'm so sad!" he cried sarcastically, "Your little footsies will explode if they don't get some rest, huh?" Saratobi nodded childishly. Daisuke grinned and kept on moving. Korosu sighed and followed his brother.

"Hey, that was mean!" Saratobi called. Daisuke stopped again.

"Did you hear that?" he asked, looking around. Korosu threw a shuriken into the trees, which returned as a hideous winged dog.

"What the heck is that thing?" Saratobi asked.

"Henshin." Korosu replied.

"We can't make living things with Henshin," explained Daisuke, "but we can make tracking devices disguised as living creatures." Korosu whispered something into the creature's ear. It flew into the air and set off. They waited patiently for a few minutes. "This'll be the most rest you get for a while." Daisuke said. Saratobi glared at him. The dog returned and landed by Korosu. It sent voices in his mind and turned back into a shuriken. Korosu stood up and put it away.

"Two teams are battling not too far ahead, and one of them is Zawato's group." He announced.

Saratobi gasped. "We gotta help them!"

"Just give us the scroll. We know you have the one with the heaven sign on it!" The masked ninja yelled.

"Shut up!" Zawato yelled back, blood gushing from his lip. Isshinta sat up against a tree, knocked out, and Fey was kneeled next to him. She was trying her healing arts, but to no prevail.

"Zawato!" Saratobi called as she ran into the battlefield. Daisuke and Korosu took stance in front of Zawato.

"Rei, look!" said the ninja with a staff to the masked one.

"I see, Bo. It looks like more snot-nosed punks entered the fray. It appears we're gunna have to take care of them too." Rei took out ten kunai knives and threw them all at Daisuke, who deflected them with his swords.

"Let's go, Korosu," he said. Korosu nodded, and they both jumped into the trees.

"Should we follow them?" Bo asked. Rei jumped up, with no answer. Bo looked back at a young girl in a skirt.

"You'll be okay alone, Elli?" The girl said nothing. In fact, Saratobi noticed, she hadn't blinked yet. Bo groaned and followed Rei into the trees.

Rei jumped at Daisuke, clanging a huge kunai against the dual blades. With Rei's free hand, he punched Daisuke in the face. Then, he grabbed the two swords and threw to the ground below. Daisuke jumped to the branch behind him and aimed his arm at Rei. Then a kunai on a chain shot out of Daisuke's sleeve.

'Concealed weapons!' Rei thought, right before his left shoulder was impaled. Then, Daisuke took out a wire from his shoe. It had a metal ball on the end for weight. He flung it around Rei's neck and pulled on both of his weapons, and, over his shoulder, Rei went falling to the ground. He landed right by Saratobi, causing her to scream. Meanwhile, Korosu was in pitched combat with Bo. Bo's staff was being blocked only by Korosu's poison needles. Out of nowhere, Bo became three.

"Annoying Ninjutsu," said Korosu, studying his new enemy. "But let's see how you fare against this…" Then, Korosu rolled down the tree and stood on the underside of a branch. The three Bos growled and did the same, only to find Korosu to be a twig. They looked back up, and got a needle to the forehead. Korosu stood on the tallest branch, and watched Bo become one and fall next to his partner. Daisuke and Korosu came down and gathered around Zawato, who was bleeding from his mouth all over the grass.

"How'd they do that to you? I beat the crap outta the one like nothing!" Daisuke asked. Zawato spit out more blood and turned his head.

"The girl…" he muttered. Everyone looked over at the motionless teammate of Rei and Bo. Daisuke found his swords and aimed one at her.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"…My name is Elli…" she replied robotically.

"What'd you do to Zawato?" Daisuke waited for an answer, but didn't get one. He threw a small orb from the back of his headband at her. It quietly exploded on contact and caused a ball of flame to consume Elli.

"Daisuke, how could you do that?" Saratobi asked.

"What, kill? It doesn't really bother me…" he started saying, but Saratobi slapped him.

"No, you idiot! Kill a little girl! How could you kill a little girl!" she screamed. Daisuke closed his eyes.

"She beat up Zawato. Besides, I thought the point was to eliminate the other teams." He said.

"Yeah, but you don't have to kill them!" Then Saratobi looked away. "I don't want to be your teammate anymore. You're so vicious! Maybe I should kill you!" Daisuke frowned.

"Now look who's vicious. Look, Saratobi. If it makes you feel any better…Korosu has killed more than I have." Korosu smacked Daisuke upside the head. Saratobi got up and flipped them off.

"Screw you guys!" she screamed, and walked off alone into the forest. Isshinta finally got up.

"Wh-what happened?" he asked. Fey smiled and hugged him.

"Well, we should get Saratobi. We need all our team members to pass." Daisuke said, getting up.

"Wait! Daisuke," Zawato pointed to Rei and Bo. "You guys take their scroll." Daisuke took out the two earth scrolls. "No, we have two." The first earth scroll was still disguised as a heaven scroll.

Zawato smiled and sat up. "Then I guess I'll see you in the tower."

Daisuke grinned. "I guess. C'mon, Korosu, let's get that crazy chick."

Inside the tower, four days later, a few teams had finished. The hours counted down (two) until the test was over. Zawato, Isshinta, and Fey had made it earlier the final day. Now they wonder where Daisuke's group is. Oiyoba, Kiyuta, and Fuu's plan was a success, because they collected four scrolls. Gaku, Jin, and Bijin used Bijin's body as bait for ambushes. Sasuma and Setsuko, being naturally good fighters, along with Satsuma, got their scroll. Ryu, Hayate, and Hitomi got a scroll, and they sat casually, searching for a new prey. Somehow, Rei, Bo, and even Elli made it.

"Don't tell me the cocky brat with two swords didn't make it." Oiyoba said, smiling.

"Saratobi!" Daisuke yelled. "Damn it. We're not gunna pass unless we get a scroll and that girl in less than two hours." Korosu lowered his head when a rat nibbled on his toe.

"This kunai tracking device didn't find her, either. Maybe she got out of the forest?" Korosu guessed. Daisuke shook his head.

"No, the rules clearly stated that you can't get out for five days." He replied. "Stupid girl. She shoved that loss right up our…" Then as he looked to the left, he saw Saratobi sleeping up against a tree. "There you are!" They ran over to her. Daisuke glared at her sleeping face and slapped it.

Saratobi squealed and jumped up. "Leave me alone you pervert!"

Daisuke sighed. "I didn't do anything…" he said. Saratobi looked at Korosu and Daisuke.

"You guys came to find me?" she asked, surprised.

"Sure. We couldn't pass without you." Korosu replied.

"So this is about passing? You guys, shinobi are not only skilled fighters and assassins, but also dedicated to their team." Saratobi said.

Daisuke shrugged. "I don't know where you learned that, but if you believe it, it may be true," he took out the two earth scrolls. "Anyway, we failed. No way could we get a heaven scroll in less than two hours."

Korosu's ears twitched. "Someone's coming." He whispered. A kid dragging his two teammates behind him made his way to Daisuke.

"Please, take our scroll." The kid said, exhausted.

"Uh, sure. Talk about a stroke of luck." Daisuke took the kids scroll, which, ironically, was a heaven scroll.

"Who did that to you?" Saratobi asked.

"The Waterfall team. They have perfect teamwork. Watch out for them." Then the kid collapsed.

"Okay, that was the best possible thing that could have happened." Daisuke said, putting the scroll away. Korosu took out a first aid kit he carried with him and set it by the three unconscious ninja.

"Let's get to that tower, on the double!" Saratobi cried, running away.

Anko appeared in the tower and looked over the group of survivors. "Wow. Way more of you got here than I figured. Well, none the less, you all passed." She said, disappointed. Just then, Daisuke, Korosu, and Saratobi ran in.

"Wait, we got here within the time limit!" Daisuke cried, pulling out the two scrolls of heaven and earth. Anko looked at the clock behind her.

"Well, although its last minute, you did get here in less than five days. Normally, you'd have to open those scrolls, but we're running later than expected, so don't bother." Daisuke sighed in relief. Kiyuta elbowed Oiyoba to get his attention, and pointed back. Oiyoba looked and growled at the three.

"So you runts made it. Lucky." He growled. Isshinta waved at Saratobi to come over. She did, and smiled at their cell.

"Glad you guys made it." She said. Zawato folded his arms. "There was an unsuspecting Sound team just waiting to be ambushed." Fey jumped happily.

"We didn't even have to fight them! They were sleeping!" she cried. Saratobi was confused.

"But couldn't a person from Sound hear you even if they were sleeping?" she asked, trying to get her facts straight.

"Not with Isshinta's ninja art." Zawato replied, patting his shy partner in the back. Soon Daisuke walked over to Setsuko.

"I thought you'd want to steal my heaven scroll." He joked.

"Funny, Daisuke," Setsuko said, not looking at him. "I figured out on the second day that you probably used Genjutsu to hide the real nature of it." Daisuke smiled and took out the two earth scrolls. "You sure I didn't just use one of these and a fake heaven scroll to get in?" Setsuko snatched the two earth scrolls. "These are both earth scrolls…" he muttered, opening them. "Did you cheat?" Daisuke whipped out the real heaven scroll.

"Nope! Got you!" Setsuko growled and threw the scrolls back in Daisuke's face. Korosu glanced at Rei, Bo, and Elli. "Huh? We killed them." He said to himself. Then he shrugged. "Maybe we'll get round two in the next test…" Then Anko took everyone in a bigger room, which had all the jonin teachers and the chunin teachers lined up on the opposite side of the room. Anko lined the teams up in seven lines of three. The ninja in the front of the lines were (from left to right), Setsuko, Ryu, Daisuke, Gaku, Oiyoba, Rei, and Zawato. Second were Sasuma, Hitomi, Korosu, Bijin, Kiyuta, Elli, and Isshinta. Last were Satsuma, Hayate, Saratobi, Jin, Fuu, Bo, and Fey. Isshinta looked at all the powerful, beat-up people, and practically fainted. Hayate licked his lips, his eyes darting back and forth. Saratobi felt a pulse of incompetence as she noticed all her new rivals.

"I can't wait to see what happens next." said Kiyuta, pushing his long hair out of his eyes. Rei and Bo were staring at Bijin, until she looked back at them.

"Take this seriously…" whispered their teammate, Elli, "All will end in a few moments." Daisuke and Korosu grinned.

"I really want to beat the crap outta some of these people." Daisuke said. Korosu nodded.

"Some of these people deserve it." He replied. Anko walked back to stand before the genin.

"I spoke with the Hokage," she yelled into a wireless mic. "And it seems we have a slight problem." The kids looked at eachother, paranoid. "There are twenty-one of you. It appears there are too many genin for this to go on. Now, don't get all up in a fuss. We've decided to have a set of preliminaries before the test." Then everyone grew silent. "Before that begins, though, I must explain two very important things. One: You may have to battle twice. Depending on how good you do… and two: Your team…you've stuck with them this far, but now…you're all against eachother." Isshinta gasped from out of the silence. "LET THE BLOODBATH BEGIN!" Anko yelled, pointing to an electronic screen. Two names appeared after a random scramble. It read: Hayate vs. Shimasu Sasuma. As the genin climbed the stairs for higher ground, Hayate grinned and walked out to the middle of the room.

"Where's my prey?" he asked, hunching his back out. Sasuma cracked his knuckles and crossed over opposite of Hayate.

"You're Hayate? I've heard of you. From the village hidden in the sand, right?" Hayate got in fighting position.

"Yeah, and if you've heard of me, then I'm sure you've also heard of how many people I've killed." He replied. Sasuma nodded and threw a kunai with great speed. Hayate caught it in his teeth and was impaled by a shuriken.

"How the hell…?" Sasuma jumped back and took out more shurikens. "Everyone has a blind spot, wolf boy, and by determining the person's height and eye size, I can find it." Hayate closed his eyes.

"Heh…I don't need to use my eyes at all. Good luck finding that blind spot again." Sasuma threw the weapons.

"How can you dodge what you can't see?" he stammered. Hayate evaded all the shuriken and threw two back.

"I have a nose, and, by the way, you should have washed your hands this morning. They smell like fish." Sasuma sneered and ran at Hayate.

"I don't have to use weapons to beat you!" he cried, throwing a punch. Hayate, eyes closed, caught the fist, spun Sasuma around, and threw him into the wall. The Hokage scratched his head.

'What's wrong with Sasuma? He's usually such a good fighter.' He thought. This old man is the Third Hokage, who is just filling in for the current Fifth Hokage, who took a vacation. As the fighting continued, the jonin teacher from the village hidden in the sand grinned.

"I never liked him." He said, looking at Hayate. "It may be his age advantage, but I think he's the best fighter here." Hayate slid under Sasuma's legs and grabbed his ankles. Then, using the art of the doppelganger, he turned into three. The original Hayate threw Sasuma up to another Hayate, who punched Sasuma back down, into the fist of another Hayate. Sasuma was then bit in the forearm by the big fangs of Sand's finest. The crowd of genin gasped.

"He bit 'im!" Daisuke yelled.

"Thanks you for pointing out the obvious, Daisuke," Korosu replied, "But what's the point in biting?" Hayate's teeth ripped through Sasuma's flesh, as he cried out in pain.

"HAYATE! STOP!" the Sand jonin commanded. Hayate dropped Sasuma and spit out a chunk of muscle from the boy's arm. Saratobi covered her mouth as she ran for a bathroom. The Hokage buried his face in his hand.

'My village is full of babies.' He thought, raising the other hand at Hayate, indicating he won. Hayate made his way upstairs and stood by Ryu and Hitomi. Everyone looked at the screen again. Now it read: Inouye Oiyoba vs. Tsuno Rei. Daisuke stared at the names for a while.

"Hey, Korosu, didn't I kill that Rei guy?" Korosu nodded. "Zombie!" Daisuke yelled as the two fighters walked downstairs.

"Why didn't you just fly down, buddy?" Rei teased. Oiyoba made no facial remark. "These wings'll be your downfall." He said. Rei got out his giant kunai.

"What they'll be is an easy target." Rei threw a lone shuriken at the left wing. As soon as it made contact, Oiyoba exploded. "Holy crap!" Rei cried. The Hokage was about to raise his hand at Rei, when the smoke cleared, revealing Oiyoba. "What was that?" Rei asked, confused.

"You won't touch these wings. The bombs I'm covered in will protect me." said Oiyoba. Rei leaned on his giant kunai.

"Yeah, but, how'd you survive your own explosion?" Oiyoba folded his arms.

"It's a trade secret." He replied.

"C'mon! Lemme in on that!" Then from the crowd, Bo threw some garbage down.

"Let's go! This isn't social hour!" he called.

"He's right," Oiyoba said, taking to the skies, "let's get this over with." Is must've been really cool to see a person fly, because Rei didn't get out of the way when a bomb was dropped. He was nicked by the explosion, and jumped to the side. He tried kunai and shuriken, but his bomb shield stopped any attack. He even tried physical blows, but then his giant kunai exploded.

After Oiyoba won that battle, Bijin beat Fey, and Hitomi beat Satsuma. All the other cells but Daisuke's had seen some action. When the screen had shown off the next two names, one of the three smiled. The screen now read: Kashime Daisuke vs. Watashi Gaku.

"Finally!" Daisuke cried, running down the steps. Gaku shoved his hands in his pockets and casually walked down. "I've always wanted to smash your face in, Gaku." Daisuke said, drawing his two swords.

"Why is that?" Gaku asked.

"You gel your hair back and wear leisure suits to class. It just annoyed me outta my mind." Daisuke ran up and slashed twice with each sword. Gaku, although tall, easily dodged all the strikes. Then, he kicked Daisuke in the jaw.

"Oooh, Daisuke. I heard you were a good fighter." Gaku said sarcastically. Daisuke recovered and got out a small sack from his sleeve. "What do you have there?" Gaku asked. Then Daisuke threw it and it exploded in a smog of toxins. Gaku coughed and fell to a knee.

"You shut up!" Daisuke said, jumping in the air. When he reached the ceiling, he grabbed hold of a wooden beam and got a bird's eye view of the room. The smog cleared, and Gaku stood back up.

"Alright, coward, that's it! Where are you!" he looked around and noticed his partner Jin pointing up. Gaku threw his head back and got smashed in the face by the hilt of one of Daisuke's swords. Then Daisuke kicked Gaku in the ribs.

"Get up," he said, "I haven't seen your moves yet." Gaku kipped up and brushed his hair back. Daisuke frowned in surprise. "You can take more than I expected." Gaku took out one shuriken.

"That's because I don't spend precious training time chasing girls! They come to me." He replied. Then he jumped back and threw the weapon. Right before the shuriken was deflected by Daisuke's sword, it turned to Gaku and punched him in the face. Daisuke slid back, bleeding from the lip. Before Daisuke could get up all the way, Gaku appeared behind him and got him in a hold. Saratobi gasped from the crowd.

"He's totally screwed now!" she yelled.

"Thanks!" Daisuke called back, struggling to escape. 'I can't use my hands, so I can't Henshin out of this…' he thought. Gaku tightened his grip.

"Give…up…" he said. Daisuke looked up at Korosu, who pointed to his own back.

"Oh, yeah!" Daisuke cried.

"What now?" Gaku asked, tightening his grip again. Daisuke started running backwards, slamming Gaku's back into the wall. That gave Daisuke one free hand. With it, he reached into the back of his shirt and pulled out two katars. He used one to impale Gaku's arm, pinning him to the wall. Gaku screamed at let go completely.

Then Daisuke turned around and was about to cut through Gaku's neck when Saratobi called out, "STOP!" He paused and looked up at her. "Don't kill anymore, Daisuke, please." She sobbed. Daisuke sighed and put the lone katar away.

"Fine, just don't go all moody on me…" The Hokage raised his hand at Daisuke.

"Kashime Daisuke is the winner!" he announced. As some medics handed back the other katar and rushed Gaku away, Daisuke went back upstairs. He stood next to his brother as the screen revealed two new names.

"Kusen Ryu vs. Hiroshima Kiyuta." Oiyoba patted Kiyuta on the back.

"Ryu is a name to hide weakness," he said. A gigantic boy with a mask over his mouth started walking downstairs. He wore a shirt with a flame design and had large biceps.

"You were saying?" Kiyuta asked, starting for the other stairs. Ryu closed his eyes and sat down.

"I wouldn't recommend using a kunai right away. There's no need to test my reflexes." He said, reading Kiyuta's mind. Kiyuta remained calm.

"Impressive." He replied. "So tell me…" he started again, "your friend Hayate was like a wolf. Your other friend Hitomi was like a bird. Would that mean you're like a dragon?" he asked. Ryu opened his eyes. Even sitting down, he was eye level with Kiyuta. "You know your legends, don't you?" Kiyuta ignored him and scratched his head. "But how can you claim to be part dragon? That is a mythological creature, and you're human." He said. Ryu closed his eyes again.

"I sense you'll find out soon…" Kiyuta lifted an eyebrow.

"Don't say you excel in fire jutsu," he said, "because any ninja could pull that off." Ryu finally got up. He stared down at Kiyuta with a huge smile behind his mask.

"There's more to it than that!" he cried, throwing a punch.

'Easily dodged…' Kiyuta thought, but when he sped behind Ryu, he felt a sharp pain in his stomach. Ryu's foot had been there and Kiyuta ran right into it. "You read my moves well." Kiyuta whispered. Ryu took his foot out of the boy's stomach.

"Like I said, there's more to it than that." He replied. Upstairs, Korosu watched with interest.

"I thought Kiyuta would win, but now I'm having second thoughts," he said. Daisuke leaned on the railing and watched over his shoulder.

"That guy from Sand _is_ pretty good." Then they heard Hayate laugh evilly.

"What's so funny, cannibal?" Saratobi asked, angry at him for making her throw up earlier. Hayate glanced at her, and went back to checking out the action.

"I don't need to associate with skimpy brats like yourself." He growled.

"WHAT WAS THAT!" Saratobi cried. Daisuke and Korosu jumped in front of her to separate her from Hayate.

"Hey, there's no need to be such a dick! The truth hurts, after all." Daisuke said. Saratobi smacked him on the head.

"You shut up too!" she screamed. Hayate turned to face them, hunched over.

"Alright, tough guy. I saw your fight out there. Pathetic." He muttered. Korosu stepped forward.

"There's no need to make this into a big deal," he started, "but if you must persist on pestering us, then I'm prepared to fight you." Hayate grinned.

"You're the ones pestering me, but I never pass up a good snack." He said. Korosu slapped his palm to the ground. Everyone but Daisuke was confused. Then the railing shot out and wrapped around Hayate's legs.

"There. Now shut up." Korosu said. Hayate scrambled around, trying to free himself.

Five minutes after Ryu and Kiyuta began fighting, Oiyoba grew impatient. "Kiyuta!" he called, "Use your special jutsu!" Ryu, not a scratch on him, decided to take a look in the future. He saw Kiyuta stopping him in his tracks with some unknown technique. He cursed when he found out the skill had no obvious weakness.

"I'll just have to take it." He whispered.

Kiyuta made a hand sign and called out, "Air Baryta!" Then Ryu's legs were smashed together. "I just made a vacuum around your feet," Kiyuta said, dropping his guard, "so you can't move around anymore." Then he started running at Ryu with shuriken and kunai at hand. Right before Kiyuta reached Ryu, Ryu pulled down his mask to reveal a gigantic mouth, full of teeth. Kiyuta skidded to a stop, but didn't evade the oversized nova projecting from the boy's mouth.

"Kiyuta!" Fuu screamed from upstairs. Ryu's feet were released, and he sat down again.

"You were the most formidable foe I've had to fight yet, believe it. For that I hope you make it to heaven." He said quietly.

"Don't start praying yet!" an extremely familiar voice yelled from across the room. Everyone looked and saw Kiyuta, covered in smoke with his shirt burnt off. The Hokage sighed.

'These kids have so many surprises this year,' he thought. The jonin teacher from the village hidden behind the waterfall smiled. 'Thank goodness he survived. He's out best fighter.' He started clapping in the silence. Soon Fuu and Oiyoba joined in. Hayate looked around from the floor he was stuck to and sneered. Hitomi leaned over the railing and gasped.

"I didn't see him dodge that!" she said. Ryu looked at her.

'He didn't,' he told her telepathically, 'When I first made contact with the fire, he used up his chakra to freeze time. He's a master of movement.' Kiyuta breathed heavily, his glasses broken and smoky.

"Give up, I beg of you. You've almost run out of chakra and that would mean certain death." Ryu said, standing back up. Kiyuta fell to a knee.

"I'm not going to fail." He said.

"What reason do you have to fight till death?" Ryu asked, his oversized mouth agape. Kiyuta said nothing. "You haven't inflicted any harm on me yet," Ryu started, "so what makes you think you can still win?" Kiyuta was still silent. Ryu made his way to the boy and lifted him up by his ponytail, "Then this will end now." Being out of chakra, Kiyuta couldn't move. Ryu punched Kiyuta in the face and dropped him to the ground. The Hokage checked his watch.

"Well that took long enough. The winner is Kusen Ryu!" Ryu made his way back upstairs. Isshinta hid behind Zawato when he passed. Everyone stared at his mouth.

"Good job, Ryu!" Hitomi cried, quickly hugging him.

"Thanks…What happened to Hayate?" he asked, looking down.

"That kid with the glasses happened!" he roared, pointing to Korosu. Ryu merely laughed and sat against the wall, pulling his mask back up. "What the hell are you laughing at! Help me out, you large-mouthed idiot!" Hayate yelled.

Meanwhile, Oiyoba and Fuu made their way down to Kiyuta's body. "Is he…dead?" Fuu asked. Oiyoba checked his fallen comrade's pulse.

"I…think so." He replied, sadly. He took Fuu under his wing as she started crying.

"It's okay. He always said he'd want to go down in battle." He said, trying to calm her down.

"That Ryu boy must be a demon if he could just kill with no remorse!" she cried.

"Don't go holding anything personal on him. He prayed for Kiyuta. I'm sure he feels really bad." Then the same extremely familiar voice came out from next to them.

"Bad about what?" Kiyuta asked. Fuu looked up and tackled him.

"You're alive!" she screamed rapidity.

"Yes, actually, I have something to say. I never fought that battle at all." He said. Oiyoba tilted his head in confusion.

"Are you saying that was all a shadow clone, Kiyuta?"

Kiyuta nodded, "I was just testing my chakra. I guess it still needs some work."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Next, Fuu had to fight Bijin. Bijin didn't stand much of a chance, so Fuu won. Then Anko announced a twenty minute rest. Most kids went outside, and others went to visit their friends in the tower's hospital. Satsuma, for example, went there to see his two partners. Sasuma's arm was wrapped up to the shoulder because of what Hayate did to him. As for Saratobi and the Kashime brothers, nothing needed to be done. Only one of them had fought, and he wasn't badly hurt, so they stayed inside. Then Gensai walked up the stairs to greet them.

"Master Gensai!" Saratobi said happily.

"S'up!" he replied, waving. "Hey, Daisuke. Quick thinking out there, but I think you could've done better after all of your bragging." Daisuke turned away, with ice on his nose from the bruises. Then Gensai looked at Korosu. "You, my silent friend, are fighting very soon. They're gunna start mixing sexes in fights now, too."

Saratobi's jaw dropped. "Huh? I'm not going to fight a boy!" she said.

"And I wanted to watch her fight another girl!" Daisuke said. Then she smacked him again. Korosu sighed and walked outside.

"What's his problem?" Saratobi asked.

"Anxiety. He's always had it since he was a kid." Daisuke replied.

Korosu walked along the river until he noticed Oiyoba, Kiyuta, and Fuu talking. "Kiyuta?" Korosu wondered aloud. Oiyoba glanced at him and flew towards him. He hovered over the river and stared down at Korosu.

"Don't tell anyone Kiyuta is still here!" he commanded.

"Why?" Korosu asked. Oiyoba closed his eyes and thought for a while.

"Uh…I don't know," he finally replied, "but he doesn't want anyone to find out just yet!" Korosu looked around Oiyoba at Kiyuta, who was sitting on a tree stump, thinking.

"Alright," Korosu said, turning away. "But I don't see why it must remain a secret…I'm sure Ryu will be asking for a real fight soon." He continued walking down the river as Oiyoba watched him until he was out of sight.

"He's very cute," Fuu said, after Oiyoba walked back.

"Ch. He's just some punk trying to be cool." He said.

Korosu soon found himself in the presence of another team. It was those three from Sand, along with their teacher. Korosu decided it best to keep out of their way, so he ducked behind some bushes and continued walking. As soon as he walked past them, Hayate stuck his nose in the air.

"We have a visitor…" he growled. Korosu shivered and stood up.

"Forgive me; I didn't intend to eavesdrop." Ryu lifted an eyebrow.

"Eavesdrop? Are you saying you heard what we were saying?" he asked. Korosu stepped back.

"No, I just—…" Hayate flashed his fangs.

"Let me just eat him. One less guy to fight. Besides, I need some payback!" he said. The Sand jonin stepped forward and pushed Hayate away.

"We won't cheat, Hayate. This boy deserves to know what we're up to." Then he looked at Korosu. "I hope you and your female partner survive your battles…for afterwards, we plan on challenging you three." Then Hayate got back in Korosu's face. "And it'll be me you'll be facing, for that embarrassing 'stuck to the floor' moment." He said. The jonin glanced back at the bird girl. "Hitomi! Escort him back to the tower." He commanded.

"Yes sir." She quietly replied.

"No thanks, I don't need escorting…" Korosu said, trying to protect Kiyuta's existence.

"That's not an option. Next time you visit the village hidden in the sand, you'll learn never to disagree with the higher-ups."

Ten minutes before the break was over, he and Hitomi were about to pass Kiyuta's hiding spot. "What's wrong?" Hitomi asked, without looking at him, "Afraid I'll find out about that speedy boy?" Korosu froze.

"How did you know about that?" Hitomi covered her mouth.

"Oops! I forgot! I'm not supposed to tell about our mind-reading ability! Oh no, I just said it again!" Then she looked at Korosu. "Don't tell anyone!" she cried, grabbing his shoulders. Korosu looked away.

"…I don't know. I think people should know about a cheap trick like that…" he said. Then she kissed him hard on the lips.

"There, now the secret's sealed!" she cried, running back. Korosu stood there with his hands in his pockets. Then he spit and wiped his mouth.

"I don't get infatuated by animals…" he whispered to himself.

Korosu walked back inside the tower with two minutes left to spare. Daisuke was standing by Zawato and Isshinta, who had just retrieved Fey from the tower's hospital wing. "Korosu, come here," Daisuke said when he noticed his brother. "Have you heard this rumor? Kiyuta was spotted alive outside earlier." Korosu looked away.

"No…I haven't heard that…" he lied. Daisuke suspiciously stared at him.

"Well it's true!" Zawato exclaimed. "He was walking with that winged guy and the girl with the tattoo!" Korosu sighed and looked around.

"How long have they been there?" he asked quietly. Daisuke looked to where Korosu was staring and saw Bo and Elli.

"Yeah," Daisuke started, "I noticed them, too. I know for a fact we destroyed them." Bo adjusted his mask, revealing only his chin. Elli stood there without moving, as she always seemed to be. Then at the last minute, Ryu, Hayate, and Hitomi walked in.

"Hey, Hayate!" someone called. Hayate's ears perked up. He glanced over to where the voice was coming from and noticed a shuriken darting at him. He moved his head over to one side and dodged it, grinning. Saratobi came down from some stairs and saw Setsuko making his way towards the wolf boy.

"Setsuko, don't!" she called, but he didn't listen.

"Hayate! I'm gunna kill you for what you did to Sasuma!" he screamed. All ninja grew quiet. "His arm is paralyzed thanks to you!"

Hayate shrugged. "What can I say? It's his fault." Setsuko gritted his teeth, although you couldn't tell. He had two stitches over the right half of his mouth. Hayate started walking at Setsuko, hunched over as usual. "I've had enough of your teams crap. After I beat that pansy blind spot guy, and after Hitomi defeated that girl with the obnoxious disposition, you've all been giving me grief like there's no tomorrow!" he barked.

"There is no tomorrow for you!" Setsuko yelled back, throwing a punch. Hayate took it to the face, and stepped back. The two stayed silent for a few seconds. Then Hayate looked back at him and smashed his head on Setsuko's forehead. He was about to commence pummeling on the hidden leaf kid, but Anko stopped him with a kunai. It slid under his bracelet and flung him back into the wall.

"Why the heck do I keep getting stuck to things?" Hayate cried, wriggling his way free.

"Break's up!" Anko announced. "Everyone back upstairs!" Then she looked down at Setsuko. "Try not to mess with him anymore…" As she was walking back to her assigned standing place she took one glance back at him. 'He looks so much like a scarecrow…kids and their fashion…' Everyone went back upstairs as they were told. The screen showed two more names: Kashime Korosu vs. Elli. Daisuke smiled.

"There you go bro! You get to beat up a little girl!" he said. Saratobi frowned.

"What? That's not fair! Korosu, don't do it!" she told him, grabbing his hand. He pulled it away and started for the stairs. "Such an obstinate idiot…" she sighed, "I'm not watching." Daisuke, on the other hand, jumped to the edge of the railing, watching the robotic girl and his brother stare-off.

"Kill her for me!" he shouted. Then Saratobi smacked him again.

"I was wondering how you survived my brother's explosion." Korosu said. Elli, after all this time, had yet to show any emotion, or care, for that matter.

"Genjutsu." She replied. Korosu lifted an eyebrow.

"Genjutsu?' he repeated. She was silent. Korosu cleared his throat. "Yes, well..." he said after a while.

"Just throw something at her," Daisuke said from above, "before I die of boredom." Korosu slowly reached his hand into the pack on his right leg and pulled out a poison needle. He stared into Elli's eyes seeing no fear, and whipped the needle at her. It pierced her chest and she fell to one knee.

"Um…I'm sorry," Korosu said, "I thought you'd dodge that…" Then Elli looked up at him with a third eye on her forehead. She ripped out the needle and threw it behind her. "That's very interesting…" he said.

"Enough talk," she snapped, "we must fight now!" She got up and charged at him, only to be kicked in the face.

"For that, I don't apologize. Never rush me." Korosu replied, drawing more needles. Elli got back up and made a hand sign. Then she became Korosu.

"Ninjutsu." Thy both said at the same time. He tried throwing another needle, but it clanged tip to tip with her needle. Then they both gasped.

"You're copying me before I can do anything!" they exclaimed. Daisuke kept a close eye on his brother.

"This could get confusing," he whispered to Saratobi, who nodded in return. Korosu tried throwing another needle, rolling to the side, throwing another, and doing a backflip. All of which were copied instantaneously. Then they stopped moving. The real Korosu glared at the Elli copy for quite a while. Then, out of nowhere, the Korosus removed their glasses. Daisuke practically jumped off the railing.

"Korosu! You're blind without your glasses!" he called.

"I know," the Korosus replied, "but if she's really copied me, then she can't see either." Saratobi tilted her head. "Oh, I get it. He's limiting this fight to sheer shinobi skill. A ninja must be prepared for anything." She said. The Korosus lunged at eachother, practically tripping from blindness.

'Gotcha,' the real Korosu thought, bringing his knee up into the stomach of his counterpart. She rolled back and turned into Elli again. Korosu readied some more needles, but from out of the floor, two hands gripped his ankles. He tripped and smashed his chin on the floor. Elli's body rose up from the ground and twitched. The third eye widened, and grew a dark yellow.

"My chakra won't last much longer…" she whispered. Korosu rolled over and got on his elbows.

"You used a shadow clone to copy me and predict my moves before they happened…that kind of combination of Ninjutsu and Genjutsu has to be impossible!" he exclaimed, "And that Ningu…when you matched your needles to mine…" Elli grinned.

"I get that a lot." She said, stabbing his left leg with a needle, "Those needles are poisonous, but you knew that, didn't you?" Korosu grimaced in pain. Then he rolled backwards and took out his entire pack off needles.

'I need to end this fight now, or that poison will kill me.' He thought, "Needle storm!" All the needles came like an arc at Elli. She looked up ant them, and they all went into her third eye.

"My chakra…" she whispered, fading away.

"Humans don't just disappear!" Jin yelled from the crowd.

"Yeah, man, look out!" Zawato exclaimed. Korosu held his leg and looked around. When he glanced up, he saw a barrage of Daisukes dashing down at him. He jumped out of the way and rolled around on the floor. Then all the Daisukes but one changed into someone else from the crowd.

"Take this!" they all cried, unleashing an attack. The fire from Ryu, the long kunai from Zawato, Daisuke's kunai on a chain, Oiyoba's bombs, all came soaring at Korosu. They all made contact resulting in an explosion. When the smoke cleared, only a burnt stump remained.

"Replacement jutsu!" Elli exclaimed. She frantically searched the room for Korosu. When she looked at all the jonin lined up, she noticed one of them shouldn't belong. "There's one to many jonin!" she announced. Gensai grinned.

"Good luck finding him!" he replied. Elli got up close and personal with each jonin.

"Leaf… Sand … Waterfall…Leaf…Leaf…Huh?" she read off. The last jonin's headband had an unfamiliar insignia on it. It was a circle with a square, triangle, and wavy pattern in it. "What is that?" Elli rudely yelled to the jonin.

"The Kashime clan symbol…" He replied. Elli's eyes widened as the jonin grabbed her entire face with his hand.

"And this is Henshin!" Korosu cried. His hand glowed, and Elli's arms began bubbling and growing uncontrollably. Her jaw ripped out of place and a huge spine shot out of her chest. Then she exploded in a mass of magical material and blood. The crowd gasped. The Hokage sighed and pointed to Korosu.

"The winner…somebody clean that mess up…" he announced. As Korosu headed back upstairs, he met up with Gensai.

"In case you were wondering, she's still alive." He whispered.

"I know. Her third eye was letting off way to much chakra to give up so easily." Korosu whispered back.

"Good job, bro." Daisuke said. Korosu nodded and looked at Saratobi, whose head was down. Then she swiftly punched him in the jaw, knocking his glasses off.

"You idiot!" she screamed, "People's lives aren't just able to be thrown away so easily! They're not dolls!" Korosu stared at the floor.

"She got what she deserved…" he muttered. Saratobi kicked him back in the jaw.

"You naïve bastard! You don't know a thing about people! You guys can't be human!" Then Korosu finally got up.

"Would it scare you if we weren't?" he asked, raising his voice, "Shinobi are designed to be killing machines. It's kill or be killed in the land of ninja, haven't you learned that yet! We're just tools! Tools called shinobi!" Saratobi cowered in fear up against the wall. Nobody expected Korosu to start yelling.

"I don't see how master Gensai allowed you to enter these exams! You won't last a second. You're just a useless wench…Get out of my sight…" he continued, "NOW!" Saratobi's eyes started watering and she got up and ran away. There was a jonin next to Genasi named Hajime, who taught Sasuma, Setsuko, and Satsuma.

"Looks like your squad has some teamwork issues…" he said. Daisuke tightened his fist.

"That was too harsh, Korosu. I won't stand around watching you be mean to a girl." Korosu stared into his brother's identical eyes.

"What about all the times you were?" he asked. Daisuke tilted his head.

"How'd you know?" Korosu chuckled and put his hand on Daisuke's shoulder.

"Because I was there, of course!" he said.

"No you weren't," Daisuke replied, "So go fetch the real Korosu before I kill you, girl." Korosu looked up at Daisuke with a third eye on his forehead.

"Very good, Kashime. I was hoping to break you, but it seems like you're smarter than you look." Then Daisuke swiftly impaled the Korosu imposter with his sword. Elli appeared in its place, stuck on the blade. She looked around at everyone, and died. Zawato put his hand on Daisuke's back.

"Go get Saratobi, we'll look for Korosu." He said.

"In the mean time," the Hokage announced, "the preliminaries will continue as scheduled!"

"Saratobi!" Daisuke called. "Where are you!" He walked around the outskirts of the tower, trying not to overlook her. He gazed at a moving bush until he heard her crying. He slapped his palms on the tree next to him, making some of it into a woven heart of twigs. "Hope this helps," he whispered to himself. He pushed the bushes back and saw her sitting, drying tears.

"Your brother is a jerk." She said, calmly. He handed the heart to her.

"That wasn't Korosu. It was Elli, using Ninjutsu." She got up with the heart with her head down.

"Then I'm sorry…" she said.

"Well, that was fast." Daisuke replied, taking her hand and leading her back to the tower.

"Daisuke," Saratobi whispered upon their entrance.

"What?" She continued to look down.

"…Was she right? Are shinobi really just tools for killing?" she asked. Daisuke widened his eyes in confusion. "Uh…I guess that depends…on what your sensei says…" he replied stupidly.

She looked back up at him, almost as confused. "That doesn't really make much sense."

The screen now read Hayate vs. Toshima Jin. The crowd was depleted on the search for Korosu, but the wolf boy and Jin were still there. Hayate got up out his chair and cracked his neck. "Alright, back on track." He said. Jin rubbed his hands together.

"He deserves this." They made their way down to the floor below. Setsuko watched from the shadows under the staircase.

"Sorry, Jin, but I hope Hayate wins, so I can fight him."

"What's up with Saratobi and emotional rampages?" Zawato asked, opening a closet in search of Korosu.

"Maybe something bad happened in her past…" Isshinta replied quietly.

"No, I knew her back then, too. She lived a normal life." Zawato said, closing the closet doors, "But anyway, off that subject. The ninja from Konoha aren't doing so well, are they?" Isshinta shook his head. Zawato sighed, "I say those three from the village hidden in the sand are the strongest." Isshinta nodded. "Aren't you gunna say anything?" Zawato asked. Isshinta shook his head.

"Tell me, Ryu…what are we doing again?" Hitomi asked, moving some junk.

"We're looking for the Kashime with the glasses." Ryu said, lifting a huge boulder over his head to look under it. They were outside the tower. It was about 7 o'clock in the afternoon, and the sun had begun setting. It cast an orange-red tint to the normally dark forest. "By the way, where you meaning to tell me something?" Ryu asked, slamming the rock back to the floor. Hitomi stepped back.

"How'd you know?" Ryu starred at her like she had her intelligence drained out of her.

"We can read minds…" he stated, turning back to another rock.

"Oh yeah." She whispered, wishing Ryu hadn't found out.

"So Kiyuta's still alive…that's good." Ryu said. He smiled behind his mask and emitted smoke from his nostrils. "But what's this?" he asked after a while, "The boy we're looking for knows we can read minds? Hitomi, that's disappointing." She folded her hands and got on her knees.

"Please, Ryu! Don't tell Hayate! He'll punish me!" she cried. Ryu looked back at her, sympathetically. "Although it's not in my nature to unjustly cast judgment down on accidents, I believe he has the right to punish you. But, be assured, I won't let him leave permanent injury." She jumped up and hugged him, looking small against his giant physique. "Remember his words: 'Tell anyone our secret and you'll wake up without a hand.' He'll find out anyway, but don't worry. I'll protect you," He continued, determined, "even if it means receiving the same punishment…"

"We've found him!" Zawato yelled. Everyone came rushing, eager to see what's happening. Daisuke pushed his way through the jonin and genin next to Zawato. He saw Korosu deep in a well covered in moss. "I didn't even see this until Isshinta almost fell in." Zawato said, scratching his head. Korosu looked up at Daisuke and shook in his ropes. He was bound to a wall, ropes from neck to foot. He also had a girl's stocking around his mouth.

"I see you had some fun…" Daisuke said, climbing down. He untied Korosu and took off the sock. "Why couldn't you use some random jutsu to escape?" asked Daisuke. Korosu flashed a bracelet around his wrist.

"She put this on me," he muttered, embarrassed, "It saps chakra. I would've died if not for Isshinta's accident."

When everyone stepped back inside, the battle between Hayate and Jin was coming to a close. Hayate ran up to Jin and kicked him in the face, causing the clone to disappear. Jin materialized behind him, and tried throwing a shuriken. Hayate kicked that, too, and swung around Jin's neck using only his teeth. That caused Jin's neck to bleed profusely. Saratobi looked away.

"I can't watch that guy anymore." She said. Daisuke pulled her hands off her face and held them.

"No, watch him. This'll show you what to expect later." Hayate pulled out two shurikens from his pack behind him. He threw them both in Jin's feet and did a backflip kick to Jin's chin. Because his feet where planted to the ground, and he was elevated, the gashes in his neck stretched, allowing all free blood to spew out. Saratobi shrieked as Jin fell over. Hayate licked his lips and felt the boy's pulse.

"He's alive." He assured the genin crowd. He licked his finger as the medics from earlier came in and took Jin away as Fey and Sasuma walked down from the hospital wing.

"Hayate wins again!" The Hokage yelled. Then Anko stepped forward.

"Attention! I know I just gave you all a break, but after this next battle, we'll be hitting the sack. I'll explain more later." she pointed to the screen, which now read: Hoashi Saratobi vs. Mikazaki Fey. Fey frowned.

"I just got back, Hokage!" She cried, "Do I have to fight again!" The Hokage nodded and took a big drag from his cigarette. Saratobi walked to the center of the room, over Jin's blood.

"Don't worry, Fey!" she called. Fey looked down at her from upstairs and blinked. Saratobi gave her a thumbs up. Fey sighed and walked down. "This'll be a friendly dual. We promised not to hurt eachother, remember?" Saratobi said, throwing her pack of weapons to the floor. Fey did the same.

"Yes, I remember. Please go easy on me." Saratobi nodded. They stood silent for a few seconds and rushed at eachother. Fey attempted punching Saratobi in the chest, put it was blocked. Then Saratobi followed that up with a hook to Fey's shoulder. It hit, but Fey rolled with it to sidle behind Saratobi and kick her on the inside of her left leg. Because Saratobi wears a skirt, it pulled her other leg along with the left one and made her fall. She laid there, dazed.

Then she burst out in laughter, "My mother always told me I shouldn't wear a skirt to the academy. But I always wanted to look nice. I knew it'd be my downfall." She got up and spin-kicked Fey in the waist, so she staggered back. Daisuke, back in the crowd, got excited.

"I think I just saw up her skirt!" he cried. Then Korosu, Zawato, and Isshinta all smacked him simultaneously. Saratobi even ran over and smacked him.

Meanwhile, outside the tower, Kiyuta's cell sat quietly. Oiyoba looked around. "Nineteen hours and forty minutes into the day, and we still haven't gone back inside? This is weak…" he said, breaking the silence. Kiyuta breathed in deeply and stood up.

"I suppose you're right. I just hope not to attract much attention." He looked at the girl next to him, who was playing with a pill bug. "Fuu. Can you go check inside for a good watching place in the shadows?" he asked. Fuu got up and nodded and she began to walk away. Oiyoba also got up and sighed.

"Finally! I bet we missed so much action! Ten hut that, Fuu!" Without looking back, she jumped up and dived into the soil and swiftly burrowed through the forest back to the tower.

Setsuko climbed up the stairs and threw a kunai at Sasuma. It stuck in the wall next to him, and he looked back, with his arm covered in bandages. "Hey, Setsuko. Have you battled yet?" Setsuko shook his head, glancing over at Hayate. "He won his last fight without a scratch…" he muttered. Sasuma nervously continued to watch the fight between the two girls. Saratobi grabbed Fey by the shirt and hurled her over her shoulder. Fey landed with a loud slapping noise and Saratobi did a backflip and landed, over Fey on her knees.

"Sorry about that. I'm trying to show off to the one boy in that crowd that I have a crush on…" she whispered in Fey's ear. Then Fey pushed Saratobi off and jumped up.

"Who is it?" she asked.

"I'm not saying out loud! Come over here and I'll whisper it to you, though." Saratobi replied. Fey walked to Saratobi who pushed Fey's hair back and cupped her hands around Fey's ear. "It's Zawato." She said quietly. Fey stepped back.

"Same here!" she yelled. They both started jumping up and down, excitedly.

"Isn't he cute!" Saratobi asked giddily.

"I know! Isn't he so cool!" Fey asked back. Then Saratobi punched her in the face.

"BUT HE'S MINE." She said firmly. Fey's eyes started watering when she saw her own blood coming out from her nose.

"S-Saratobi! I thought we weren't gunna hurt eachother…" Fey complained. "Now it's personal, you little fool."

After a huge beat down, Fey lost. She was more than okay enough to stay with the crowd instead of going to the hospital, too. Then Anko walked to the center again. "Alright, good job today, everybody. Today's top ninjas are…" she took out a small piece of paper, "in this order: Hayate, Oiyoba, and Ryu." The two sand genin grinned. "Now it's time to rest. We've decided to take a different approach this year. We're going to give three of you the same room to sleep in, but those three are picked randomly. Unfortunalty, some of you girls have to rest in a room with two guys in it. We have a strong feeling none of you will try to kill eachother tonight, but in case you attempt it, a jonin elite will be placed outside of each room. The groups of three are set up as follows: Kashime Daisuke, Hayate, and Hoashi Saratobi." Saratobi fell to her knees. "Next are Kusen Ryu, Hiroshima Kiyuta, and Mikazaki Fey." Ryu looked down at Fey. "Um…Then are Inouye Oiyoba, Sausuke Isshinta, and Hyuga Setsuko." Isshinta shook in fear when he looked at Setsuko. "The next group is Bakufu Zawato, Kashime Korosu, and Bishojo Bijin." Zawato grabbed Korosu's shoulder. "Next are Watashi Gaku, Bo, and Shimasu Sasuma." Bo continued to lean on his staff, knowing he's gunna die soon. "Then it's Shimasu Satsuma, Aikakaze Fuu, and Hitomi." Hitomi looked around and didn't see the other two, so she shrugged. "Well, then it would be Rei, Jin, and Elli, but, while Elli's dead, Rei and Jin are in critical care," she threw an bunch of keys on the floor, "so pick a room and go to sleep. The preliminaries continue tomorrow."

"Come on, Saratobi, I don't want to have to do this almost as much as you," Daisuke said, walking down a hallway with her, "but it's something we're both going to have to live with!" Saratobi continued walking; her arms crossed and nose up. Hayate shuffled slowly behind them, cursing under his breath. Then Saratobi stopped and spun around.

"I'm not sleeping in the same room as you two! That's that! You two can sleep outside like the animals you are!" Hayate stepped around Daisuke and stared down at Saratobi after he straightened his back.

"Listen, little girl; I've been running around all day and I'm not going outside where it's cold just to get some friken' sleep!" he barked. She stepped back. He scoffed and grabbed the key out her hands. Then he continued down the hallway.

Ryu and Fey walked up a flight of stairs, not looking at eachother. Then, finally, Fey lifted her head. "Um…Mr. Ryu?" she whispered.

"Hm?" Ryu replied, advancing slower.

"Did you have to kill Kiyuta?" Then Ryu stopped.

"Well, I don't know how to put this," he said, facing her, "but Kiyuta is still alive." Fey gasped and Kiyuta appeared behind Ryu.

"How'd you know?" he asked. Ryu turned back around to stare down at the Waterfall ninja. "I heard you just now." He lied. Kiyuta lifted an eyebrow and started walking up the stairs to their room.

"About-face!" Oiyoba called to Isshinta, who was following him and Setsuko backwards. Isshinta turned around and looked down.

"What's wrong, boy?" Oiyoba asked without looking to see what's up.

"Nothing…" Isshinta replied quietly.

"I doubt that, Isshinta. You're afraid, aren't you?" Setsuko guessed. Isshinta looked away. "Well, you should be. I could assassinate both of you tonight, so there are two less people to fight."

Oiyoba chuckled, "Ch. I'd like to see you try. It'll just come back to blow up in your face. Pun intended."

Zawato, Korosu, and Bijin all moved swiftly down the hallway opposite of Daisuke's. Zawato sighed in relief. "Glad to share a room with a friend." He said happily. Korosu said nothing, but agreed. Bijin brushed her hair back behind her ears, but her sprained wrist proved it to be difficult.

"Well I'm glad to share a room with two cute boys," she said, "You know, Zawato, you're the hottest boy in class? And Korosu has always been one of my favorites…so mysterious," she sweet-talked. Zawato blushed, but Korosu stopped walking and looked at her.

"This night is nothing, just rest. Don't make it into the night I kill you."

Gaku and Sasuma both miserably walked down a flight of stairs. They, along with Bo, got the worst room. "If I had gotten just one girl with me, I might have been happy." Gaku said, rubbing his cast. Bo burst out in laughter.

"You guys are so dull! Just look at 'cha, with your casts and all. So sad." He cried.

Hitomi, the oldest and biggest, lead the other two girls to their room. "Here we are, ladies, first class room. Be glad I picked this key." She said, opening the door. The room was large and fully decorated. It had three large, fluffy beds and a master bathroom. Fuu jumped up and ran inside. She turned the bathtub on and got the soap from under the sink out.

"I'm gunna use this. I…get dirty quick." She said, scratching dirt from her hair out. Then she closed the bathroom door.

Satsuma sat on one of the beds, "These are soft. I hope my brother Sasuma got a room as nice as this one." Hitomi glanced at her uncomfortably.

"So, he's your brother?" she asked. Satsuma nodded. "Oh, well, sorry about what Hayate did to him. He's a real jerk sometimes. He just doesn't know when to quit, ya know?" Satsuma lowered her head.

"Is he…a cannibal?" she asked. Hitomi slapped her palm on her head.

"You found out! I told him not to bite anyone!"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Hours later, all the genin went to sleep. Some, like Setsuko, slept with their eyes open, to make sure no one would try to kill him. Others, like Daisuke, just fell fast asleep, not caring what happens next. Jonin sat quietly outside of each room, with their ears pressed against the doors. Anko, Ibiki, and the Hokage all slept in one giant suite. Anko lay curled up, with an arm hanging off the bed. Ibiki snored loudly, drooling all over his pillow. The Hokage slept straight and peacefully, until he heard a noise that woke him up.

"Who's there?" he asked the darkness. He reached over and lit a candle and continued to look around. "Nothing." He said after a while. As he lay back down, he saw a man standing on the ceiling. The Hokage jumped out of his bed and shook Ibiki, but he didn't get up. "Who are you?" The Hokage demanded. The man jumped down and grabbed the Hokage by the arm.

"My name is Kashime Korosuke." He answered quietly. His face has shadowed by the light behind him, but his arm that he grabbed the Hokage with was misshapen. The Hokage was about to yell out for everyone to wake up, but Korosuke shot his other arm out at his mouth. The arm extended to cover the old man's face and the fingers wrapped around it. Then his hands began to glow and the Hokage choked out foam. "How does it feel to have all your organs changed to soap?" Korosuke asked, dropping the Hokage to the floor. Then he shifted to Anko and Ibiki. He grinned and knocked the candle over with his extended arm.

"Good morning, Saratobi!" Daisuke cried in her ear. She moaned and rolled over in the little bed she had. Their room was one of the worst, and the beds were terrible. They were thin, hard, and small, but Hayate had taken a liking to them.

"Go away, Daisuke." Saratobi replied, looking at a loud clock on the wall. Daisuke shook her violently until she fell off. "What the heck, Daisuke? What do you want?" she asked, annoyed. Just then Hayate rolled over, frightening them. He started snoring again, so they continued.

"I just wanted to see if you'd train with me," Daisuke said, flipping his hair.

"Why don't you ask Korosu?"

Daisuke shrugged, "I don't know where he is. I haven't seen anyone up yet. I must be the first one." He said.

"I'm impressed," Saratobi whispered, "but maybe that's because it's five o'clock in the morning!" Daisuke rubbed his chin.

"I'm impressed too." He said. Then Hayate quickly sat up. Daisuke and Saratobi froze in fear and stared at him. Hayate slowly turned his head to look at them, his yellow eyes wide open. Then there was a slight pause.

"Breakfast." He muttered quietly.

"Um…excuse me?" Saratobi asked, afraid.

"Breakfast." Hayate repeated at the same tone.

"Speak up." Daisuke said, without moving.

"I NEED BREAKFAST!" Hayate shouted, diving for Saratobi. Daisuke shot up and kicked him in the ribs before he got her. Hayate rolled around on the floor and whipped his head to Daisuke. He growled and got up. Then he walked out of the room and left the door open. Saratobi sat quietly on the floor.

"That was…weird…"

Ryu stood paralyzed in the middle of the towers central room. "Ryu!" Hayate called, slouching over. The Sand dragon, as he was called back home, still stood firm.

"Hayate," he whispered, "the Hokage, the leader of the village hidden in the leaves, is dead." Hayate cracked his neck.

"So? That will make it easier for the village hidden in the sand to strike, like we were planning to do anyway." He said. Ryu turned to face him, his beady eyes focusing on something of his own.

"You don't understand. All the jonin are gone, including Bashike sensei. And we are all in grave danger." Hayate inhaled deeply.

"I hate when this happens. I'll tell Hitomi to gather everyone here." Then he telepathically spoke with her.

Soon, everyone surrounded Ryu, wondering what's come of their senseis. "Attention!" Ryu called, pulling his mask down to annunciate better, "Last night, the Hokage was assassinated. By whom, I don not know, but know this! We were all left unharmed! This is an act of destiny! We are all meant to team together and vanquish this threat!"

Gaku scoffed, and stepped forward, "Don't tell me you believe in all that 'destiny' crap. If you ask me, we should get outta here before we go down, too." Some people agreed, but Hayate punched him across the face.

"Shut up. Ryu can see into the future! If you don't believe me, then whatever, but when you recall his battle: how did he predict the moves of a shadow clone? He didn't! He read the mind of the real Kiyuta, who was nearby!" he shouted. Korosu nodded.

"His partner Hitomi also spoke of your psychic prowess." He said. Hayate glared at Hitomi with fire in his eyes. Her jaw opened as if to say something, but instead she just fell to her knees and started crying.

Zawato folded his arms, "So what do you want us to do, Mr. Future Destiny?" Ryu closed his eyes and thought.

"Set out in your newly assigned groups. This mustn't be done alone, nor with the ones you know and love." Then he turned around. Oiyoba flew up and pointed out the door.

"You heard him! Get out into that forest! Ten- hut!"

Saratobi followed Daisuke and Hayate as they leaped through the trees. She was in deep thought, and had a question for Hayate. Of course she was too afraid to ask. But when the two boys stopped jumping to gain their bearings, she gathered the courage. "Hayate…" she said quietly.

"What?" he snapped back without looking at her.

"I want to ask you something…" she inhaled deeply and stood up on the thick branch, determined. "I want to know about your past!" Daisuke frowned.

'Why doesn't she care about my past?' he thought. Hayate sighed and sat down.

"Do you really want to know? It's a dark story, but I'm not afraid to talk about it." Saratobi nodded and sat down in relief. "Okay. Here's how it began…

"I was born in the village hidden in the sand, as I'm sure you knew. As a kid, I was normal, pulling pranks and cussing until my mouth was full of soap. But my parents loved me, and I loved them. But one day, a clan of shinobi stormed the village. They ran around spreading insects everywhere, which fed on the chakra of others. My parents locked my brother and themselves in a room with me. They told me that these beetles won't go unless they can sense no more chakra. So we were trapped for days without supplies. Since the first day of our entrapment, my parents had been grinding my teeth with a rat's bone while I was sleeping. When I finally asked them why on the third day, the said that only I can continue the family. My brother was too young to go out on his own, and my parents had grown old. They told me…I had to eat them. I didn't want to at first until my dad shoved his fingers in my mouth. He forced me to bite them off with my sharp fangs. So…after a few hours, I devoured my entire family, on their willing. For another day, I continued to sharpen my teeth and develop a keen hearing for the beetles outside. They hadn't died down yet, so I grabbed the bones of my mother and father and burst out into the horde of insects. Then someone called them back and a saw a tall ninja with sunglasses and a coat up to his nose. He beat me with my families' bones and gave me all these scars. Then something clicked. He stepped back to ready for another beating, but he saw me lick up all my blood and was disgusted. That gave me the chance to kill him. He escaped however, and I followed him outside. The sun was so bright, though, that I fell over and passed out, sick from blood. That's why my pupils are sharp, as well, from that damn sun and all. The next three years were the worst. I was always sick from training while being a cannibal. Villagers hated me, and I was temporarily exiled. Then, two years later, I came back. The village leader was new, and he didn't recognize me. He asked for my name, but joked and said, 'what is it? Sharp eyes, sharp teeth, sharp reflexes…is it wolf?' I grinned and told him it was Hayate."

"That's terrible," Saratobi muttered, scootching away from him.

"Yeah, well now you know." Daisuke raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, but why'd you become a ninja? Revenge?" Hayate nodded. "How generic." Daisuke continued. Hayate stood up and tightened his fist.

"I'll kill the Aburame clan! If it means my life!" he shouted to the trees.

Then Daisuke shot up in surprise, "Did you say the Aburame? That's a hidden leaf village clan!"

Hayate shrugged, "So," he said, jumping to the next tree, "I'll just have to kill anyone who gets in my way."

Korosu looked around the corner quietly. His new group had been the only one to remain inside to tower. He had split the team up to cover more ground. Then he opened a door and stepped in. The Hokage lay on the floor with foam all over him. Korosu examined the old man suspiciously. Then he pulled out a kunai knife.

"I have a bad feeling about this…" he whispered. He used the kunai to tear open the Hokage's chest. All of his inner organs had been replaced with the same foam coming out of his mouth. Korosu jumped up and ran out the door. "I knew it!" he yelled, trying to attract the attention of his new partners. "It's a Kashime! It was Henshin!"

Ryu continued sitting on top of the tower, thinking. Then Kiyuta jumped up and folded his arms. "We're not doing anything, so how about we finish our battle now?" he asked. Ryu sat quietly, eyes still closed. Kiyuta grew quiet also. He sat down across from Ryu and waited patiently. Then suddenly, Ryu looked up at Kiyuta.

"I'm not going to fight now. I am, however, wondering if this is worth it. Perhaps we should all just get up and leave?" he said. Kiyuta shook his head.

"No, Ryu. Think about it: what would happen if we didn't stop whoever did this? How would anyone become Chunin?"

Ryu pondered and nodded, "Yes, I suppose you are right. But I still won't fight you after this…I know you've been trying to get on my good side so I'll agree to a battle. I can read minds, remember." Kiyuta got up and jumped off the tower, frustrated. Ryu leaned over the structure's edge and called down to the Waterfall boy, "I'm going to challenge the Kashime brothers first!" Then he sat back down in the middle of the tower. 'I know how this will end. I mustn't let anyone get hurt…'

"See that, kid?" Oiyoba asked, pointing down at a strange figure. "What is that? Is that a person?"

Isshinta squinted and looked down at it, "Um…It looks like a person. Who could it be?" Oiyoba spread his wings and flew down and found the figure to be a wooden cross. He smiled and began laughing. "What's so funny?" Isshinta asked, climbing down the tree they were on.

"I got me a great idea." Oiyoba replied, rubbing his hands together. He made a bird noise and waited.

"Oiyoba, Setsuko said not to call him unless you found something…" Isshinta pointed out shyly. Then out of the shadows of the forest, Setsuko came running.

"What is it?" he asked, cautiously. Then Oiyoba grabbed him and tied him to the cross. He grabbed Isshinta and started running away.

"The penalties of looking like a scarecrow, my friend! See ya!" he called back. Setsuko frowned and used replacement jutsu to switch places with one of the birds flying towards him. "Expect to have your wings clipped, fool…" he said under his breath.

Oiyoba finally stopped running and laughed. "That wasn't nice, Oiyoba." Isshinta muttered.

"What was that, punk?" Oiyoba asked, starring in Isshinta's eyes. Isshinta's lower lip started shaking and he curled up on the spot, in fear. "Geez, kid. I was just messing with you, you don't gotta be all afraid. It's just so boring now. I wish the fights could've just continued so I could go home." Then the wind shot through the trees, causing his bare arms to shiver, "By the way, give me your coat, before I hurt you." Isshinta slowly got up and removed his coat and handed it to Oiyoba. "Like a dog! You, my shy friend, are just like a quiet little puppy dog. You'll obey me and you won't complain!" Oiyoba cried happily. Then Isshinta shivered.

"What's wind like this doing in a forest?" he asked. Then the wind stopped and a man appeared before them. He lashed his disfigured arm at Oiyoba, setting off his bombs. The explosion caused the man, Korosuke, to pull his arm back, but Oiyoba was knocked out by his own explosion. Isshinta scrambled back in fear against a tree.

'In Oiyoba's fight, he could survive his explosions! Maybe my coat prevented him from executing a technique that nulls the damage!' he thought. Korosuke shook his hand wildly in the air.

"Ow! That explosion!" he shouted. Isshinta took advantage of the opportunity and tried to run away, but Korosuke grabbed him by the back of his shirt. Isshinta still tried to run, and it caused his shirt to rip off, revealing a giant tattoo that covered his entire torso.

"Sausuke clan. 'Shinkan Okage: Silent King of Shadows…" Korosuke muttered, "I am right? Of course I am. I'm right." Isshinta tried to run again, but Korosuke grabbed him by the head and pounded him on the ground. Isshinta lay on the ground, fearing for his life. Korosuke approached him, his hideous arm moving viciously. Isshinta covered his eyes and screamed.

"Shinkan Okage!" His tattoo shot out and enveloped Korosuke in shadow. Then Korosuke found himself floating in a black emptiness. Isshinta flew at him and delivered a punch to Korosuke's face that caused him to jet out of the shadow. He found himself back in the forest with Isshinta and Oiyoba gone.

Daisuke, Hayate, and Saratobi all jumped down in front of Isshinta, catching him by surprise. "What happened? We heard an explosion!" Daisuke cried, confused. Hayate studied Oiyoba, who was still knocked out. "Isshinta! Tell us what happened!" Daisuke yelled, but Isshinta did nothing. Saratobi stepped forward and grabbed Isshinta's hands.

"Please, Isshinta. Tell us what happened." She pleaded.

"…There's a man with a big, deformed arm. He disguised himself from Oiyoba and I as the wind…" he sputtered.

"Disguised as the wind?" Saratobi repeated, "Daisuke, is that possible?"

Daisuke shrugged, "I've only heard of shinobi becoming wind back when I was a child. My entire clan but Korosu and I could become wind."

Ryu stood up on the tower. "They found out. Now's the time to summon them all back…" he said. Then he sent out psychic messages to Hayate and Hitomi, telling them to tell everyone that it was time to regroup at the tower. Kiyuta jumped back up with Fey.

"What's wrong, Mr. Ryu?" Fey asked. Ryu looked down at the two.

"Prepare for battle."

Soon everyone returned to the tower. Korosu told Daisuke that he knew the intruder was of the Kashime clan, confirming Daisuke's suspicions. Ryu stood on a stump, looking over everybody.

"So, after reading the minds of all of you, we know the assassin is of the Kashime clan," Ryu announced, "So you must watch out for the Henshin transformation ability." The genin all stepped away the Kashime brothers, except Saratobi and Zawato's original cell.

"What! I don't know who it is either!" Daisuke yelled, annoyed.

"Calm down, Daisuke. If nobody else trusts you, then forget them," Saratobi whispered, "We'll believe you."

Gaku turned to Daisuke, "Look, I'll come along too. I'm still furious at you for making me wear this cast, though." He said. Then the genin walked away into the tower. Ryu stayed outside with Daisuke and co.

"You guys get to the top of the tower, and we'll fight off this guy. Then it'll be up to you," he said, "We're going to cheat destiny."

"Screw 'em, I say." Bo said in the silence of the waiting genin, "Why bust our butts on 'em if they could be working for this assassin? Y'all are crazy." Setsuko leaned against the wall under the stairwell.

"Taking chances is part of life. Get over it." He replied. Bo shook his head and went back to messing with his staff. Sasuma and Satsuma sat together watching Hayate. He was yelling at Hitomi, although, being on the other side of the room, they couldn't hear him.

"I told you not to tell anyone! There's an exception for when I did it, but you just opened your dumb mouth and said, 'hey, I'm Hitomi! The stupidest whore this side of the village hidden in the crap!'" he yelled. She kept looking away, in fear. Ryu was near, but did nothing except watch. "I told you about the consequences, didn't I? Say goodbye to your hand." Then he reached for it, but Ryu stopped him.

"No, Hayate. Take mine in her stead." He whispered. Hayate growled and got up in Hitomi's face.

"Lucky you. I'm really hungry, so his hand will do better in my stomach. You should thank him." Hitomi began bawling as Hayate grabbed Ryu's hand and pulled out a kunai knife. All the other genin gathered around and watched, horrified as Hayate brought the kunai down and cut Ryu's hand, but it didn't go all the way through. Ryu screamed and shot flames out of his mouth uncontrollably. It burnt his mask off and blood flowed from his wrist. "Dammit!" Hayate cried, ripping the kunai out. He cut again and almost missed, but got Ryu's hand off. Ryu became silent as he gasped for breath.

"Hayate…" he whispered, "That was a rigid-edge kunai." Hayate looked around at the unhappy crowd and stormed off past the sobbing Hitomi to join the Kashime brothers upstairs.

"Think, Korosu, did anyone survive besides mom and dad?" Daisuke asked, pacing the suite that Hitomi, Fuu, and Satsuma slept in.

"You mean excluding…her?" Korosu added, cautiously.

"Of course. I told you, until I see her alive, she's dead to me." Daisuke replied pointing at his brother.

"Who are you talking about?" Saratobi wondered aloud.

"Uh…just a girl. She's nothing, really. Don't worry." Daisuke said, waving his hands. Saratobi got up and pinned him to a wall.

"Tell me or face the dire consequences." She commanded. Korosu nodded.

"Okay," Daisuke sighed, "The infamous Kashime brothers actually have an older sister. Her name was Muchu. She was beautiful, but she never learned her lesson."

Korosu stood up and continued for his brother, "The people of the Kashime clan are named after they reach the age of ten, so they can have a fitting name. Mine, for example means 'to kill' because I had killed before I reached ten. Daisuke means 'great help' which he's not, but he once was. Muchu means 'rapture' or 'bliss.' She was always so happy and carefree. This was because she couldn't stay in touch with reality. But, none the less, she was the clan's top ninja. But when our clan slowly died off, she disappeared, so we assumed she was dead." Saratobi sighed.

"It seems everyone but me has a story to tell." She said. Then she glanced at Zawato. "What about you?" she asked.

He folded his arms and continued staring out the window, "I have nothing to say. My past was normal, Saratobi; you should remember. We hung out every day." Isshinta shifted in his seat, as if to gain attention. Daisuke slapped Isshinta in the back.

"What about the Sausuke clan member? Tell us about yourself!" he shouted. Isshinta breathed in heavily and poked his fingers together.

"Well…um…You see…I…And…uh…um…" he stuttered. Saratobi grabbed his hand.

"Calm down, Isshinta. You don't have to say anything." She whispered.

"Yes you do." Daisuke said. Then he was smacked, yet again, by Saratobi. Isshinta tightened his fists.

"I will tell." Then he stood up, "The Sausuke clan lives on the outskirts of the hidden leaf village. Everyone there is hardened by the rough way of life…except me…Most of the time, Sausuke people don't even become ninja. They just work. But because I was so afraid all the time of our own power, they sent me here. When we're kids, we're branded with a hot iron that the shape of this tattoo you see on me," he pointed to himself, "When I learned the true nature of this mark, I was afraid. Then I was sent here with specific instructions not to use its power. But I fear I already have." He looked down, relived that he got that off of his chest. Just then Hayate barged in.

"You done contemplating defeat yet?" he asked.

"We're not going to be defeated once we know what we're up against, you mental case!" Daisuke cried. Hayate grinned.

"Now, now. Let's not get violent in front of the kids." He said.

"What do you want, Hayate?" Gaku asked, facing him coolly.

"Just checking up on my favorite rookies." He replied, walking over to a bed and jumping down on it.

"If I'm not mistaken, this is your first year also." Korosu said, adjusting his glasses. Hayate shrugged.

"Whatever you say buddy." Then his eyes widened. He jumped of the bed and gasped.

"What now?" Daisuke asked, annoyed.

"He's here!" Hayate cried, running out.

"We'll kill him here, understand?" Ryu asked the line of genin. "After this, we'll go back to my village and continue the Chunin Exams. Until then, this is your test. I saw how this would turn out if I didn't tell you each my entire plan. You'd all die. But now that I told you, follow it and live to die another day." Then Hayate ran down, stumbling over the last set of stairs.

"Let's go!" he said, standing next to Ryu. The doors slowly opened and thousands of kunai came flying in. Ryu and Hayate, in the front line, blocked them all with flashy moves that would've been cooler if Ryu had both hands. Then Setsuko made a hand sign.

"Byakugan!" he cried. While everyone else felt the chakra of another ninja, Setsuko could see a hideous creature crawling on the ceiling. "He's there!" Setsuko shouted, pointing up. Oiyoba threw a bomb up and it hit the creature, sending him crashing down. It appeared visible to everyone as it tried to flip itself back over. Then Kiyuta ran around it so fast, it was stuck to the ground.

"I do so love vacuums." He said. Then it was a free-for-all on the creature.

Meanwhile, upstairs, Daisuke, Korosu, Saratobi, Zawato, Gaku, and Isshinta waited patiently. "I hear something…" Korosu said quietly. Then the door blew open and in stepped Korosuke. He lashed his arm out at Zawato, and then a growth on that arm grabbed Gaku.

"More of you than I thought, although this is not a problem…" Korosuke said, launching a giant mouth from his stomach at Saratobi. She shrieked and was eaten.

"No!" Daisuke yelled. Isshinta collapsed and began crying. Korosuke looked down at the boy.

"You're the Sausuke kid. From the Sausuke clan. You have inflicted pain on me." He said, causing an arm to reach out of his back. It slowly stretched out for Isshinta. Right before it grabbed him, Korosu stabbed it with a needle. The arm twitched and turned black.

"What happened to you?" Korosu asked. Korosuke's jaw opened unnaturally wide and fired needles at Korosu, witch were deflected by Daisuke's swords. Daisuke jumped at Korosuke and stabbed him. Then he jumped back and shot his hidden kunai on a chain from his sleeve. It pierced Korosuke's chest. Daisuke followed up his combo with the poison sack and katars. He threw both katars and the sack at Korosuke's face and pulled on the chain. Korosuke flew up and out the window. Before he hit the ground, Daisuke used the string and chain together to pull him back up and toss a bomb in his mouth. Then Korosuke's head exploded. He hung ten feet above the ground. Isshinta got up and looked out the window.

"We gotta get Saratobi!" he cried, jumping out. Korosu followed, impressed by his brother's move. Daisuke stood there, holding the chain and string.

"Yeah, just leave me here." He said.

The crowd of genin flocked around Korosuke's corpse. "Ryu, I thought that creature we fought was the threat the Kashime brothers faced." Kiyuta said, confused.

"Yes, and in my original foresight we didn't fight it. The Kashime brothers were on the central floor with us. We didn't expect to be assaulted. Korosuke, as this disfigured fool is called, burst in and killed us all, because we weren't prepared." Ryu replied, "So I did what I never thought I'd do and opposed fate. Messing with fate alters your destiny." He put the one hand he had on Korosuke's side and chuckled, "He was so easy for the eldest Kashime." Then they all walked away. Everyone but Daisuke, Korosu, and Saratobi followed.

"Ryu was right. This was too easy," Daisuke said, "I wonder what happened to this guy?" Korosu adjusted his glasses as he stared at the bleeding cadaver hanging from a chain.

"Our elder once told us a man left here with intents of overusing Henshin. Maybe he performed it on himself?" he asked.

"That's so sad. No offense, but I'd hate to be from the Kashime clan." Saratobi said, removing slime from her hair in disgust. Daisuke shook his head and walked off. Korosu bowed and followed his brother. Korosuke floated back and forth from the chain in the sunset light. "It's almost dark," Saratobi said loud enough for the Kashime brothers to hear, "What are we gunna do now?"

The next day, the three got up and left the forest without saying anything. Ai met them at the Forest of Death's entrance. "Oh, hey, Ai. What's up?" Daisuke asked.

"Gensai left already." Ai replied cryptically.

"What do you mean! Gensai's still alive!" Saratobi shouted, shaking Ai by the collar.

"Yes, yes! Of course he's alive! We all are!" he cried.

Korosu removed some hair from in front of his eye and pushed up his glasses, "Then where'd everyone go?" Ai shoved his hands in his pockets and jerked his head behind him.

"To the Sand country. The Chunin Exams will finish in the village hidden in the sand." He said.

"Is everyone going?" Daisuke asked.

Ai nodded and walked off, "Let's go."

Meanwhile, back in the forest, Korosuke twitched. He cut the chain with a growth off his arm and landed.

"Mission complete, Miss. They're going to the Sand village, just like you said. Good call." He said.

A young woman walked out of the shadows, "Good job, Korosuke. That's why I made you…to do what I say." Korosuke blushed.

"Well, I do what I can. So now where? Where should we set off to?"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Days later, the Chunin Exams where set up in the village hidden in the sand. All the combatants were back, full of energy. The battle arena was outside now, on a very large platform. The jonin that commanded Hayate's cell stepped forward.

"Attention! The Kazekage will make a brief speech before the preliminaries continue!" he shouted. The Kazekage came out of a whirlwind of sand. He had spiky red hair, and compared to the late Hokage, the Kazekage was very young. He also had rings around his eyes. "I speak on behalf of the Fire Shadow of hidden leaf village," he spoke with a calm and cool voice, "I hope all of you made it here safely. I also wish good luck to all ninja choose to do battle today. That's all…" he then made a chair out of sand and sat down. The Sand jonin held an umbrella over the Kazekage's head. A screen on the side of a building opened up to reveal two names yet again: Bakufu Zawato vs. Bo. Bo lowered his head.

'I've kept this charade on long enough. Without Elli, I don't think I can win.' He thought. Zawato jumped on the platform.

"Let's get this over with." He said, motioning for Bo to come up onto the battle arena. Bo shuffled up and got in a stance with his staff. Zawato immediately ran at his opponent and punched him in the chest. Bo slid back on his staff and turned the blow into momentum for a kick off his weapon. Zawato ducked at the last second and sweep-kicked the pole. It fell over along with Bo. Then Zawato jumped up and took out a mass of weapons. He swiftly tossed them all down all around Bo, who shrieked in fright. The weapons around Bo made the formation of a circle with lines coming out of them. Zawato landed and made a hand sign just as Bo got up. The weapons smoked and turned into a giant pair of jaws. Bo used his arms and legs to prevent himself from falling in, but the jaws kept trying to clamp shut. Zawato walked up to Bo and brought his fist down on his head. Bo fell in the jaws and they disappeared.

The Kazekage smiled and pointed at Zawato, "He wins." Bo shot out from the top of a building, confused.

"What y'all doing over there?" he asked baffled.

"Very fast." Daisuke said when Zawato jumped down off the platform. The screen quickly lagged and revealed more names: Hyuga Setsuko vs. Aikakaze Fuu. Setsuko spit and leaped on the platform.

"Come on, Waterfall girl. Let's finish this so I can have a real challenge." He muttered. Fuu clenched her fist in anger and jumped on the platform. She dived into the ground right away in frustration.

Oiyoba pressed his palm over his face and sighed, "She's using that already? That guy'll figure out the move and she won't be able to use it again." Setsuko grinned and made a hand sign.

"I'll figure it out now! Byakugan!" he called. His pale eyes flashed and veins pulsed out from the side of his head. While Fuu thought she was hidden in the ground, Setsuko saw through the technique and stared at an area next to him. Then Fuu popped out of that spot and was kneed in the face by Setsuko. "You can't hide from the Byakugan." Setsuko said, pulling out a shuriken. He tossed it at her when she was getting up, and it stuck to her shoulder. Fuu gasped in pain and slowly got up. Then Setsuko ran over to her and pressed his fingers into her temples. Fuu groaned from the pressure, but couldn't move. "Now's the time to give up. I won't go easy on anyone." Setsuko whispered. Fuu closed her mouth and disappeared. Setsuko blinked and turned around. Fuu came out of nowhere and kicked him in the jaw. He began to spin back, but Fuu continued kicking in circles like a helicopter. Setsuko spun over dizzily. Dazed, he hopped up and found Fuu to be missing again. But Setsuko could see her under the ground with his Byakugan. When Fuu jumped out of the platform again, Setsuko kicked her straight up into the air. Then he jumped after her, with a kunai in hand. He reached her and sliced her arm in mid-air. When they landed, Setsuko lifted Fuu by just the chin. They were the same height, so Fuu was only on the tips of her toes. Setsuko pulled his arm back and planted a punch to her face. She hit the floor and sweep-kicked him to the floor as well. "Just die already." Setsuko said, rolling back. They both got up and ran at eachother. When they were in fists' range, Fuu tried to punch him. He dodged, however, and used her arm to flip her over on her back, where he poked her in the throat. She gasped and went out cold. The Kazekage clapped and pointed to Setsuko.

"The Hyuga boy is victorious." He said. Setsuko groaned in disappointment.

"She was tougher than I thought. That means I've grown weak." He said to Sasuma jumping down off the platform. Everyone stared at the screen, which lagged the next names out so slowly, it went out letter by letter.

"I-n-ou-y-e Oiy-o-b-a vs. Sa-us-u-k-e Is-s-h-int-a," it read.

"Isshinta!" Daisuke cried. Isshinta fell to his knees in fear. He was breathing too heavily and wasn't looking at anything in particular. The Kazekage stared at Isshinta puzzled. He got up out of his sand chair and walked over to him. It was then that Daisuke noticed the Kazekage had a giant gourd on his back.

"I once knew someone like you. She was a lot less shy, but none the less, afraid to do most things. She wasn't afraid to fight, however. Fighting is one fear a ninja must overcome. So get up before you're disqualified." The Kazekage said. Isshinta looked up and nodded nervously. He stepped on the platform, standing across from Oiyoba.

"Oh, look. I get to fight the little whiny dog. Lucky me." Oiyoba said sarcastically.

"Don't take that crap, Isshinta! Show him why you survived that assault by the Kashime assassin and why he didn't!" Saratobi cheered. Isshinta opened his mouth and looked back at her. He blushed and went back to staring at Oiyoba.

"I'm no dog." He whispered.

"Ch, whatever." Oiyoba replied, grabbing four bombs. He hurled them all at Isshinta who just put his arms up, trying to protect himself. Then the bombs exploded on impact. Out of the smoke, seven kunai shot out. Oiyoba stood there and let the kunai hit him, just to activate his bomb defense. Oiyoba stood in the smoke smiling. 'He can't hit me either.' He thought. Then seven fists flew in and each punched Oiyoba in the face. "What the-? My bombs didn't go off!" Oiyoba shouted. The smoke blew away and Isshinta and six clones surrounded him. Oiyoba flew in the air and inhaled. "That was close." He said. Then he grabbed a grenade from his waist. "Haven't used these yet," he said quietly, "Bombs away!" He dropped the grenades and Isshinta dived out of the way a second to late. The much bigger explosion nicked his feet and he rolled away, the bottom of his pants smoking. Oiyoba took advantage of the moment and dived towards Isshinta. He grabbed the boy and lifted him in the air. Isshinta screamed in fear of being dropped. "I won't drop you if ya give up," Oiyoba said, hovering with Isshinta held beneath him.

"No! Don't do it Isshinta!" Saratobi cried. Isshinta looked down and firmed his facial expression.

"I dare you." He said. Oiyoba shrugged and let go. Before he started falling, Isshinta turned into a shadow and crawled all over Oiyoba. "Get offa me!" Oiyoba shouted, rapidly forcing his explosion defense to see if it would get the shadow to stop. Then Isshinta as a shadow took over Oiyoba's body.

"Mayday…" Isshinta whispered into Oiyoba's mind. Then he forced Oiyoba to spiral down at great speeds. Just before Oiyoba hit the floor, Isshinta jumped out of his body. Then all of Oiyoba's bombs went off, causing a great explosion. Isshinta sat down and lowered his head. "That saps a lot of chakra." He said.

"Whoo-hoo, Isshinta!" Saratobi cheered.

Oiyoba got up and screamed in anger, "How dare you! All my bombs are gone! Now I'm really gunna kill you!" He dashed at Isshinta and punched him in the forehead. Before Isshinta hit the floor, Oiyoba grabbed him and backhanded him again in the face. Isshinta rolled back and coughed out blood. Oiyoba teleported over and kicked the boy into the air. Then he did an upward frontflip kick, sending Isshinta crashing down. Isshinta lay face down, motionless.

"No!" Saratobi cried, reaching out for him. Oiyoba kneeled over Isshinta's back and grabbed him by his long black hair. He smashed Isshinta's head into the stone floor four times, but much harder the last time. Isshinta's head lay a few inches in the ground.

The Kazekage stood up, but was interrupted when someone called him by his real name, "Gaara!" the voice cried.

"If it isn't my older brother Kankuro. What is it?" The Kazekage asked. Kankuro wore a black outfit and wore his headband like a kefiyah. (A cloth worn on the head that covered the entire backside of the head, to keep sand out of one's hair and keep them cool. Oiyoba wears one as well.) His face was also covered in paint.

"We got a hostile and powerful shinobi at the gates. Our forces can't handle it alone," Kankuro said. Gaara, the Kazekage, stepped back.

"Impossible." The Sand jonin with the umbrella replied.

"It's true! Our sister Temari and two of my favorite puppets are out there now!" Kankuro continued.

'Puppets?' Korosu thought, 'Kankuro isn't holding on to any strings…is he?'

Gaara sighed, "Summon another puppet now to stall until I get there." he commanded. Kankuro nodded and took out one of the scrolls from his back. It opened and a large puppet shot out. The crowd of genin was amazed. Gaara turned to the kids. "Um…this battle has been discontinued until I kill this intruder. So just…talk amongst yourselves." Then he, Hayate's teacher, and Kankuro ran off. Oiyoba got up and cursed loudly. He walked away, his wings blowing in the sandy gusts. Saratobi, Fey, and Zawato rushed up on the platform to Isshinta's aide.

"Lucky he didn't loose," Zawato said, "He gets one more chance." Saratobi felt Isshinta's pulse.

"If he wakes up by then." She replied, worried. Fey rubbed her hands together and placed them on Isshinta's back.

"My healing arts will take some time. Let's hope its fast enough to wake him up in time." Daisuke and Korosu watched Gaara and his brother run off.

"Hey, Korosu…Do you think we'll ever get that good?" Daisuke asked.

"You're making assumptions again, brother. You don't know how good they are." Korosu replied, wiping sand off his glasses.

"Come on! One's the Kazekage and the other's a walking militia! You trying to tell me that isn't powerful!" Korosu simply shrugged to that remark.

Meanwhile, across the platform, Ryu sat covering his lack of hand from the sand.

"Why don't you wrap that up?" Hayate asked, looking somewhere else. Ryu grinned under his mask when his arm began shaking.

"This is why. It took longer than I thought though. I almost didn't think it'd ever happen…" he relied. Hayate looked back at him with an eyebrow raised. Ryu jumped to the middle of the platform and landed with a heavy thud. He stuck his arm in the air and the stub where his hand used to be began throbbing. Everyone watched as a new hand grew where the old one once was. Ryu drew it back in and winced in pain. "That also hurt more than I expected." He said. Then a young woman ran over to them all with a giant fan in her hand. She folded it and put it on her back as she got up on the platform.

"Wow, she's really friken' hot." Daisuke said, staring at her chest.

"I know…" Gaku agreed, coming out of nowhere. Saratobi ran over to them and smashed their heads together.

"My name is Temari! I'm Kankuro and the Kazekage's sister, and I'm going to continue these pointless preliminaries in place of my brother," She announced, "So…look at the screen." Oiyoba was actually relieved his battle didn't have to continue yet. The screen now read Kashime Daisuke vs. Watashi Gaku. Gaku got extremely confused.

"I fought him already!" he said.

"And he lost too!" Daisuke added.

"Yeah, thanks for that comment." Gaku said under his breath.

Temari grinned, "I don't care; just do what the screen says." Gaku and Daisuke both got on the platform after Isshinta was removed.

"Alright, Daisuke. Your cheap katars are gone, so what will you do if I got you in that hold again?" Gaku asked.

"Plan b," Daisuke replied, drawing his swords, "Come on." Then Gaku ran at Daisuke and did a running roundhouse kick to the torso. The Daisuke clone flew back and exploded in smoke. "So can I get a number, or what?" Gaku heard. He looked and saw Daisuke standing by Temari with a piece of paper and a pen. Temari laughed and grabbed Daisuke by the shirt and threw him back on the platform.

"Nice try." She said. Daisuke grinned and got up.

"Come on, Daisuke. This isn't time to flirt around," Gaku said, "But if you were more like me, you wouldn't have to." Daisuke raised his swords to his fighting stance.

"Why, because you're gay?" he asked.

"No!" Gaku cried, "Because the ladies come to me! How many times must I tell you that!" Daisuke shrugged and disappeared. He teleported above Gaku and slashed, but Gaku was already out of the way. He made two clones of himself and rushed in to attack the lone Daisuke. The two Gakus punched and kicked everywhere, causing Daisuke to guard like a little girl. Then after a few symmetrical attacks, both Gakus smashed Daisuke in the face between their fists. The clone disappeared. "There we go. I knew I could fight better than you." Gaku said, pulling up his sleeves. He grabbed Daisuke by the hair and lifted him up. Gaku has surprised when the seemingly stunned Daisuke kicked him in the face. "Dang it, Daisuke, don't trick me like that!" Gaku yelled, checking to see if his nose has bleeding. Then Daisuke made a hand sign.

"Alright, I'm bored now," he said, "time for plan b!" then the entire platform was covered in purple dust.

"What is this; poison?" Gaku asked. Then he fell to the ground, coughing.

"Sort of. Look up." Daisuke replied, making a different hand sign. Gaku rolled over so he was facing up, and he saw a giant spike coming down from the sky at him. His eyes widened and it impaled his stomach and drilled a foot into the ground, practically splitting Gaku in half. The genin all gasped.

Temari chuckled to herself, "He had me goin' there for a second. This kid's good." Then the dust faded away, along with the spine. Gaku was actually completely fine, but lost consciousness anyway from fear.

"I call that Genjutsu, my friend." Daisuke said, jumping off the platform. Korosu shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Good job, brother. Much better than last time. And yet, you still could've done better." He said. Daisuke simply shrugged and went back to standing by Saratobi and his brother. There was a long pause. "You know what, brother?" Korosu asked. Daisuke shrugged.

"What?" he asked back.

"Our parents are dead. We thought they were alive last night…" Korosu answered. Gaku's jonin teacher teleported on the platform, grabbed Gaku, and teleported away with him. The screen already had two more names on it: Hayate vs. Ryu.

Hayate growled and got on the stage, "I've already fought two times. Now here come my third…how annoying." Ryu cracked his new wrist and stepped on the battling platform. He didn't have to jump to get on, because he was so tall.

"Alright, Hayate, I won't use my foresight." Ryu announced.

"Good. And don't read my mind, either." Hayate added.

"How do I know you won't read my mind instead?" Ryu asked with a smile.

"Because you'd automatically be reading my mind when I get in your mind to read it." Hayate said. Ryu bowed his head in approval. Then he got in a stance.

"No reason to go easy on you." He said. Hayate ran over to his partner and threw a punch. Ryu caught Hayate's fist and squeezed it. Hayate winced and decided to try a sweep-kick. Ryu jumped over it, and used Hayate's fist to throw him. He landed steadily and ran back over to Ryu, who spin-kicked Hayate in the stomach. This time, Hayate landed on the stone floor. Ryu made an assault now. He tried stomping Hayate's face in the ground with his foot, but Hayate rolled out of the way and performed an uppercut to Ryu's chin. The dragon boy stumbled back and ripped off his mask. "Enough foolery, Hayate! Fire style: Fire ring jutsu!" he cried. Flames shot out of his mouth and formed around Hayate, who made a hand sign right away.

"Earth style: Groundhog Technique Decapitation!" he yelled. Hayate disappeared into the ground and the flames crashed together.

"Barely missed." Ryu whispered. Then Hayate grabbed Ryu from underground by the ankles and pulled him under until only his head stuck out. Hayate jumped out of the ground and laughed.

"I love that move! Unfortunately, it always makes me hungry." he said. Ryu broke out of the ground, causing most of the platform to crumble from Ryu's force. Temari sighed.

'Great,' she thought, 'now our battle platform's gone.' Ryu roared and jumped after Hayate, who was running down an alleyway between two houses. They clashed on the roof of one of the houses, and began rapidly punching eachother. Hayate did his sweep-kick again. Ryu purposely got hit by it so he could use the falling motion to smash Hayate down into the house with his fists. Ryu dived in after him and all was silent.

"Well…that's interesting." Kiyuta said after a while. A woman screamed and ran out of the house, followed by the two Sand genin. Then the house exploded with great force. Without caring, Hayate and Ryu continued fighting while running through the crowd of genin. They all dived out of the way as the two determined fighters charged to the other side of the destroyed platform. Ryu continued blocking and attacking with one hand as he drew the other one back. Hayate's eyes widened in surprise.

'How's he doing that?' he asked himself. Ryu let his fist fly, right into Hayate's face. But Hayate caught the punch…with his teeth. Ryu grimaced as Hayate continued to bite down on Ryu's new hand. Then Ryu swung the arm over him, bringing Hayate with it. The cannibalistic ninja fell to the ground, releasing Ryu's hand. Hayate jumped up and scratched Ryu across the chest. All that happened was Ryu's shirt ripped, but his rock hard pecks were fine. Hayate gasped in sacrament. "Those are some massive pecks!" he exclaimed. Ryu grinned and grabbed Hayate, covering his entire face with his hand. He hurled Hayate in the air, who threw four shurikens down right away. Ryu was stabbed in the shoulders and Hayate brought his leg down on him. Ryu hit the floor with great force, and remained motionless for a second. Then he teleported away, leaving the four shurikens behind. Hayate turned around and got slapped by Ryu's thrusting palm. For some reason, that attack was very powerful, so Hayate flew back quite far.

"Fire style: Ryukansen! (Dragon Spiral Strike.)" Ryu shouted. He dove at Hayate, spinning rapidly. Soon he set aflame and tackled Hayate to the ground. Ryu was about to follow his combo up with a punch, but Hayate poked him in the eyes.

"Ooh…combo breaker…" Temari said from the sidelines, "Those two fight dirty." Ryu got off of Hayate and stumbled around blindly. Hayate slowly rose and walked away quietly. Ryu rubbed his eyes and opened them.

"Where'd you go, fool?" Ryu asked. He looked around and saw only the silent genin bystanders and Temari. Then he noticed someone coming from far away. "Fire style: Flame rocket!" he cried. A large stream of flame blasted from his mouth at great speeds towards the person.

"Whoa!" yelled Kankuro, who dodged it by a hair, "Watch your aim down there!" Ryu scratched his head in confusion.

"Then where is Hayate?" he asked himself. Hayate slowly walked up behind him and bit Ryu on the head. "Get off!" Ryu cried, running around in circles. Kankuro watched with interest for a second and continued towards his sister.

"Temari. Gaara said he took care of it." He said, standing next to her.

"Good for him, now I can go home." Temari replied, taking out her enormous fan.

"Well, sure but you have to watch these fights and…" Kankuro started, but Temari got on the fan and flew away. "Fine, be like that. I'll just watch these pointless preliminaries." Kankuro shifted and watched Ryu bring his fist down on Hayate's blocking arms. Ryu followed up his attack with a knee to Hayate's stomach, causing the oldest genin, Hayate, to fall over backwards. Ryu cloned himself seven times, the most seen yet, and removed his mask.

As well as all the other clones, he yelled, "Fire style: Flame rocket!" The seven streams of fire blasted Hayate and burnt his flesh off. Ryu stopped and saw a note where Hayate once was. He picked it up and read it aloud, "Out to see your mother. Back in five days." Ryu crushed it and growled. "No one insults my mother!" Hayate appeared on a building, laughing.

"Got you with that stupid note!" he cried. Then he noticed Ryu was charging at the structure with eyes like flames.

"Mama Kusen's boy is comin' home!" Ryu roared, pulling his arm back. He reached the building and punched it so hard, it exploded and Hayate fell off.

"Geez, what the heck is their problem!" Kankuro yelled.

"They always get like this," Hitomi started, still watching her two partners, "when they don't read each other's minds." Kankuro scoffed.

"People can't read minds. One's probably an Uchiha or something." He said. Hitomi shook her head and stared at him.

"I can see that you are very jealous." She told him.

Kankuro shrugged, "So? My younger brother's the Kazekage. Why wouldn't I be jealous?" Hitomi read deeper in his mind.

"You once fought a boy from the Aburame clan…" she said. Kankuro widened his eyes.

"How'd you know?" he asked, very surprised.

"Hayate is like he is due to the Aburame clan…where can I find this guy you fought back then?" Hitomi continued, not paying attention to Kankuro's question.

"Shino? He probably still lives in Konoha." The puppet master replied. Then Hitomi dived into the mind of Hayate to tell him.

"Hey, Ryu," said Hayate, stopping in mid attack. "Are you reading my mind right now?" Ryu shook his head.

"No, I am not. Why do you ask?" Hayate thought for a while and realized Hitomi was in there.

'Hitomi! I'm in the middle of a fight here!' Hayate told her through telekinesis.

'I know, Hayate, but listen: Kankuro here just told me that a member of the Aburame clan, Shino, lives in the village hidden in the leaves.' She said. Hayate's eyes widened and he turned around to look at her. She nodded and got Kankuro to nod too.

"Alright, Ryu," Hayate said, facing him again, "It's time to quit screwing around. I've got to get back to the hidden leaf village, fast." Ryu closed his eyes.

"I agree," he muttered, "So let's go all out!" Then Hayate rapidly slapped Ryu across the face, inflicting no damage. "What was that?" Ryu asked. Hayate shrugged.

"I'm going all out. Don't question my methods." He replied.

"If you method is sucking, then you're doing a fine job," Ryu said, "Keep it up." Then he teleported behind Hayate and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Ultimate Jutsu: Head Crush Attack!" Ryu cried. He was about to bring his head down on Hayate when his face ripped open and spewed out blood. He fell back and screamed in pain. Hayate turned around and crossed his arms.

"Give up now, Ryu. There's no need to get hurt any more than that." He said. Ryu stopped yelling abruptly and stood up.

"Very interesting maneuver, Hayate." Ryu whispered, "But you forget: My body heals lethal injuries." Then Hayate jumped up and spin-kicked Ryu in the face, causing him to fall back over.

"Earth style: Groundhog Technique Decapitation!" Hayate cried, disappearing. When Ryu got back up, Hayate grabbed his ankles and pulled him underground again. Then he dived out of ground and punted Ryu's head, pulling his whole body out of the sand. Ryu spun back twenty feet and lay defeated.

"Um…did that guy win?" Kankuro asked Hitomi, who nodded. "That guy won!" Kankuro announced, pointing to Hayate. Leaving the beaten, oversized boy, Hayate walked back to the flock off genin. "Alright, I guess you should check out those names on the screen…Kashime Korosu vs. Hiroshima Kiyuta." Kankuro said. The two nodded and stood where the fighting platform once was. They both adjusted their glasses at the same time, the same way. Then they both flipped their long hair out of their eyes.

"Hold me, Saratobi…" Daisuke whispered, "I'm seeing double…" Korosu tilted his head and turned into nine of himself.

"The new record." Kiyuta noted, taking stance. Half of the Korosus ran in for a rapid beating on Kiyuta, while the others jumped up and started hurling needles. Kiyuta quickly drew a few kunai, about to block the needles and the Korosu clones, when the needles turned into Korosus too. Kiyuta scowled and was punched in a few places on his upper body by the extra Korosus. Before Kiyuta hit the ground, he teleported away and reappeared behind Korosu and quickly poked him in the back with a small kunai knife. The Korosu clone fell over and blew up in smoke. Kiyuta's eyes widened. "How'd he know?" Then he turned his head behind him and got backhanded to the floor by the real Korosu.

"You're very fast, Kiyuta." Korosu said, rubbing his chin. Kiyuta kipped back up and made a hand sign.

"I'm going to take you out just as fast!" he cried, "Air Baryta!" Because Korosu hadn't seen this move like everyone else had, he just stood there, and let the vacuum slam his feet together. "Don't try and escape it. You can't move!" Kiyuta yelled, dashing behind him. "Now let's try this again…" he drew a small kunai again, and was about to pierce Korosu's back, when a Korosu clone knocked it out of Kiyuta's hand with a poison needle.

"Stop! You're Ninjutsu is so annoying!" The Korosu clone said nothing and continued hurling needles. Kiyuta backed up, blocking each needle with the same small kunai. A Korosu clone behind him was going to stab the Waterfall ninja, but Kiyuta swiftly dashed behind it, and used it as a non-human shield from the barrage of spikes.

"You know what! I'm tired of your clones! Air Baryta!" Kiyuta shouted. The clone was stuck to the ground, and stopped moving. Another appeared, but Kiyuta continued his Air Baryta technique. Soon, about fifty Korosu clones were stuck to the ground and stopped moving.

"Watch your chakra." The real Korosu pointed out, hands in his pockets.

"Don't worry. This move consumes hardly any chakra. I could do it all day." Kiyuta replied, "So now what will you do? Throwing needles and doppelgangers are now useless." Korosu shrugged.

"Eh, just a little clan specialty." He said very casually, masking the nature of Henshin. Daisuke snickered on the sidelines, but Kiyuta didn't notice.

"Like what?" he asked, annoyed.

"Don't worry about it." Korosu replied, slapping his palms on the ground. The ground shook, and a giant needle flew out of the ground, and it rose up into the air. "Now what was it called?" Korosu asked, stepping out of the vacuum, "Air Baryta?" Kiyuta gasped and was stuck to the needle.

"How'd you copy my attack!" Kiyuta cried, struggling to get off the weapon. Daisuke continued to laugh.

"He didn't! He just made a needle with Kiyuta-attracting properties! The upside of Henshin, right there!" Kiyuta spat at Korosu, who sidestepped.

"Now, don't go insane." Korosu said, making a very unique hand sign. All the Korosu clones stepped out of the vacuum as well and adjusted their glasses in sync with the originator. "Needle storm!" they all yelled. Kiyuta gasped again and was pierced by thousands of needles. Then the giant spine ejecting from the ground disappeared and Kiyuta fell to the earth.

"That guy wins!" Kankuro announced, impressed, "Unique fighting style. It's like setting up traps with crap I didn't even know was possible!" A few of the genin applauded, but Oiyoba just laughed.

"He did it again." He snickered.

"Did what?" Korosu asked, suspiciously.

"He fought using a clone the whole time. He's probably out eating ramen right now."

Korosu scoffed and shook his head, "So he's a coward?" he muttered, "I thought as much." Oiyoba grabbed Korosu by the collar of his shirt.

"Listen, punk. Kiyuta could whoop your ass, given the circumstances." He warned.

"What circumstances? Last time I checked, our battling was required." Korosu said calmly. Oiyoba pushed Korosu back as Kiyuta walked up with a bowl of ramen.

"Good job, Kashime. I was watching the whole time, and my clone didn't get one good hit on you. You deserve more credit than what I heard." He said. Daisuke ran up excitedly.

"We have a reputation!" he asked.

"Well, I've only heard of Korosu. Sorry, Daisuke, but the people of my village only know of the silent assassin, Korosu." Kiyuta replied. Korosu said nothing and walked away. Daisuke fell to the floor and began crying.

"But…but…I'm just as good as he is!" he complained. Kankuro hadn't noticed that Kiyuta hadn't fought yet, because he was talking to Hayate's jonin teacher. He turned around and placed his palm over his eyes.

"Listen, kiddies. I gotta go take care of something. Somehow, my brother, the Kazekage, is actually having trouble. I'll be back." He said, running away with the jonin.

"What can the Wind shadow be having trouble with?" Setsuko asked, curiously. He took his cell and followed Kankuro. Saratobi watched them leave.

"Maybe we should go with them. If the Kazekage is struggling, I'm sure he could use all the help he could get." She said.

"Not like you to enter something you don't know about," Zawato stated, rushing after Setsuko, "Stay here with Fey and Isshinta. Let's go, Kashime brothers!" The two siblings nodded and followed Zawato. Hayate growled at them as they walked by him.

"Don't underestimate our leader." He whispered.

"Gaara! Quit messing around and kill them!" Kankuro yelled when he reached the main gates. Gaara slowly backed up, not a scratch on him.

"I would, Kankuro, but they have a defense as impenetrable as mine." Gaara replied, dodging a shuriken.

"What's going on?" Zawato asked, coming to a stop. No enemy was visible, because the sand was a heavy veil by the gates. Then a familiar figure approached.

"Is that--?" Daisuke began, but the disfigured man had already begun speaking,

"Kashime Korosuke. That happens to be my name. Call me by that name I just stated." He said.

"I totally blew your head off!" Daisuke cried, hysterically.

"Fool. That was a trick. I have tricked you, and you fell for it." Korosuke replied, stepping to the side to make room for another figure making its way into Sunagakure.

"Hello, my brothers." A girl's voice said. Daisuke and Korosu froze. "It's been so long. How have you been?" the girl asked, stepping towards them. She was about to put a glowing hand on their shoulders, but Gaara forced sand to rise up and block her.

"Don't touch them." He warned.

The girl laughed, "Please. I know these two personally. They are my younger brothers, Daisuke and Korosu," then she bent over and stared into their widened eyes, "Boys, do you remember me?" she asked. Daisuke and Korosu continued to glare into the empty space in front of them. "Boys? It's me…Kashime Muchu." She said. They snapped out of their trance and stepped back.

"No way! Where were you when we needed you back in the plague!" Daisuke cried, furiously. Muchu grinned and jumped on Korosuke's back.

"I was starting to make this." She replied, sliding her hand over Korosuke's rough chin.

"You made that?" Korosu asked quietly.

"Yes. It's amazing what a little bit of Henshin can do when you have hundreds of dead bodies to work with." Muchu said.

"Dead bodies? You mean…the whole Kashime clan is in that thing!" Daisuke screamed, pointing to Korosuke.

"Well, not the whole clan. You two and I are still here, right? Besides, be happy! I named him after both of you," she murmured, "so I wouldn't forget my little brothers." She closed her mouth and stared down at the ground.

"I see you still can't stay in touch with reality." Korosu said, drawing the rest of his needles. Setsuko and Zawato shrugged and backed off.

"This is a family matter. Best not to get involved." Setsuko whispered.

"But if they get in danger, we'll step in." Zawato finished. Gaara nodded in agreement.

"Very wise. Let's just watch." Daisuke teleported behind his sister, and kicked her off of Korosuke. The monster did nothing, as if he lost consciousness. Muchu flipped up and disappeared. She then reappeared in front of Korosu and began spinning wildly. Korosu got wrapped in the whirlwind and was ejected up in the air. Muchu stopped spinning a teleported in front of Daisuke. She grabbed his blades from his back and clicked her tongue.

"Still playing with knives?" then her hands glowed and the swords became a pair of rings, which she threw behind her, catching the falling Korosu in its trap. Then she glared into Daisuke's eyes. His eyes opened and he went pale. "Kashime clan special ability: Level two: Psychokenesis." Muchu said. Daisuke began walking towards Korosu. He aimed his arm as his trapped brother and shot a hideous claw.

"Daisuke, stop! She's making you use Henshin! Don't fall under her trance!" Daisuke did nothing, and the claw was stopped by Gaara's hand.

"Alright, these boys don't stand a chance." He said. The rings Korosu disappeared and fell to the ground.

"Step aside, Kazekage." Muchu said, jumping back on Korosuke, who opened his mouth and fired a few hundred needles at him. Gaara stood calmly and let all the spines collide with a sand shield he didn't even raise intentionally.

"You can't touch him!" Kankuro yelled.

"And yet, he can't touch me." Muchu added. Gaara grunted and unleashed a full assault of sand. Muchu put her hand out and stopped all the sand using Henshin on it, turning each sand grain into killer bees.

"What? You can't use Henshin to make living things!" Korosu cried.

"Hello! I made Korosuke! I can get Henshin to do anything." Muchu said. Gaara intently killed the bees, each with one grain of sand.

"This fight is useless. Leave now." He whispered. Muchu shook her head.

"Yes, I suppose I played with you all long enough. Besides, I have some business to take care of." She winked at them all and disappeared, along with Korosuke.

"Stupid girl." Gaara said, turning away. He and Kankuro walked off somewhere, leaving Hayate's jonin and the genin.

"Daisuke! Snap out of it!" Korosu cried, shaking his brother by the shoulders. Daisuke blinked and returned to normal.

"What the heck? Where'd she go?" he asked. Korosu sighed and removed his glasses.

"If she survived…do you think the other Jinchu Five did as well?" he asked. Daisuke nodded.

"Yeah, they all disappeared on the same day." He replied.

The preliminaries were delayed until the next day, because Gaara didn't feel like continuing then. Daisuke, Korosu, and Saratobi all sat quietly in a small room, given to all the genin in their groups.

"Besides Muchu, who else was part of the Jinchu Five?" Daisuke asked, in the small candle-lit room.

"I don't know any of them personally, but I believe their names were Sanjuro, Satomi, Yatsume, and…Katsuhiro." Korosu replied.

"Katsuhiro…" Daisuke repeated.

"Who's that?" Saratobi asked politely, but she received no answer. She frowned and lay down on the bed. "Well, if you guys are going to stay all dark and dreary, then I'm going to sleep." Then they received a knock on the door. Daisuke opened it and yawned.

"Zawato? What is it?" he asked. Zawato stood tall with his arms folded, as usual.

"I'm going to keep watch…The Kazekage didn't bother to protect you guys tonight with Black Ops." He replied. Daisuke shrugged.

"She won't be coming back. Not until we leave here at least. I know her, so go to bed. I'm sure you'll have to battle again tomorrow." He said.

Zawato shook his head, "Even without sleep, I will still be able to win a fight." Daisuke just grinned and shut the door. Then he and Korosu got in to their beds and instantly fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 6 Part 1

-1Chapter 6 Part 1

Everyone awoke and met outside, early in the morning. "These Chunin Exams are taking forever!" Oiyoba exclaimed. Then Gaara made his trademark appearance in a sand cloud. "The final match of the preliminaries will begin today. A few of you who may have lost may redeem yourselves in the third test." He announced. Kankuro was gone now, as well as Hayate's teacher. Saratobi slowly raised her hand.

"Um, excuse me, Mr. Kazekage. There's something I've been meaning to ask…" she started. Gaara glanced at her.

"Go ahead." He muttered.

"Uh, I just wanted to ask about our senseis. Where'd they go?" Gaara lowered his head.

"They're all fine. Two nights ago, right after the Hokage was assassinated, every Hidden Leaf jonin was sent on an insanely difficult mission. They succeeded, in case you wanted to know." He replied.

Kiyuta raised his hand and blurted out, "They what about my sensei?"

Gaara noticed Kiyuta's waterfall headband, "I have no idea. What is his name?" Kiyuta lowered his hand, fearing for his teacher.

"His name is Hakamaru." He said. Gaara shrugged.

"Oh, him. He went with the Konoha jonin just to scare you. At least that's what he said…" he lied. Then he motioned for everyone to read the final names on the screen.

"Hitomi vs. Hoashi Saratobi." Daisuke said. Saratobi gulped and turned around. The bird girl grinned.

"This will be easy!" she cried. Saratobi whined like she knew she'd get hurt.

"Go for it, Hitomi." Hayate told her.

"And go easy on her…" Ryu added, holding an ice pack to his head.

"Before you start," Gaara interrupted by saying, "On a side note: after this you will all head back to the village hidden in the leaves, where the current Hokage, Tsunade, is waiting." Saratobi nodded, and rushed in to attack Hitomi. They both punched eachother in the face, causing them to fall over.

"I want to go home! I'm sick of your sandy village!" Saratobi cried, getting up and making a hand sign, "Bloody Eye!" Hitomi's vision became red, and she couldn't see anything because the sand had also become red.

"I'm blind!" she yelled. Saratobi drew a kunai and ran behind Hitomi. She got her in a hold and put the kunai up to her throat.

"Give up or die!" Saratobi threatened. Hitomi stopped struggling and giggled.

"You don't have the guts to kill me." She said. Saratobi gasped. "If you think you can do it, then try me! Go on! Kill me!" Hitomi continued. Saratobi didn't move.

She thought back to Elli's words, "Kill or be killed." Hitomi grunted and was about to throw Saratobi off, when Saratobi shrieked and slit her throat. She fell to the ground. Hayate and Ryu looked away.

"I knew she'd get herself killed." Hayate whispered.

"Very quick final match. It ended with a pointless death, too. How unexciting." Gaara said as Saratobi walked quietly back to stand by the Kashime brothers.

"Saratobi! I didn't think you'd ever kill someone!" Daisuke exclaimed.

"I didn't kill her…" Saratobi said, looking back up. Then Hitomi coughed out a chunk of something and got to her hands and knees. Four Sand jonin appeared out of nowhere and teleported away with her. Gaara raised an eyebrow.

"Well…I guess you will all go back to Konohagakure now." Then he disappeared as well. The genin all moaned.

"More traveling? Geez, what a waste of time." Gaku said, heading for the exit.

A few hours later, all the genin met back at the gates of Konoha. A large-chested woman walked out of the village as the students arrived. "Welcome back. My name is Tsunade, and I am the current Hokage." All the guys stared at her as she led them back into the village. They walked back to a large coliseum style arena. "In there is the final test," said Tsunade, facing them, "Before we begin, let me explain the rules. Now, I'm sure you're tired of this, but the third test is more one-on-one combat." Everyone fell over, exhausted. "But there is an added twist…" the Hokage continued, "The fight itself isn't very important. These fights are all about style. Flashy moves and clan skills, if available, are what will pass you. A few judges will be watching, and the goal is to impress them while fighting someone else. Winning or losing isn't a big factor, either. Just technique. Score enough points, and you'll become a chunin. From there on, you'll be taught more advanced techniques, and possibly teach the cadets to become a genin, like you are now. Sounds exciting, doesn't it?" All the genin began chattering amongst themselves, about all the great things chunin can access. Tsunade waited a minute until she yelled, "SHUTUP!" Everyone stopped talking, but Hayate finished his sentence after everyone stopped.

"…Then I'll eat them all." He ended with. Tsunade shook her head. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that." Then she looked over them all. "When I was gone, the Third Hokage died. To all of those who remember him from when you were children, try not to think about it."

They all gathered inside, where a giant crowd of cheering people awaited them in the stands. "Wow. Didn't see this coming." Oiyoba said, observing the coliseum. It had the symbol for every hidden village around its walls, and it was very large. Isshinta, who had woken up the previous night, looked around at the people. He almost broke down again, but Saratobi grabbed his hand and lead him to the center, where Tsunade stopped.

"To everyone here this evening! Welcome to the Final Test of the Chunin Exams!" she announced. The people roared.

"There's more here every year." Said a familiar voice. Daisuke and Korosu turned around to see Gensai.

"Sensei!" they cried.

"S'up!" he replied.

Then Tsunade continued, "We have some very strong shinobi with us today! Allow me to introduce the foreigners first! From the hidden sand village, Kusen Ryu, Hitomi, and Hayate!" The three simply nodded to the crowds cheers. "They're the top contenders this year. Moving on; from the village hidden behind the waterfall, Inouye Oiyoba and Hiroshima Kiyuta!" They both waved to the crowd, who didn't cheer as much, due to the size of the hidden waterfall village. Fuu, who was with them, lowered her head. She hadn't made it into the final part of the exam. "Now we have our locals! First, taught by the famous Hajime, Hyuga Setsuko and Shimasu Satsuma!" Setsuko did nothing, but Satsuma turned and gave her brother a hug. "Next up is Bakufu Zawato, Sausuke Isshinta, and Mikazaki Fey!" The three all celebrated. "And by himself…Watashi Gaku!" Tsunade continued. Gaku fell to his knees and yelled happily. "And our last team, from the famous and loved Kashime clan, Kashime Daisuke and Kashime Korosu!" Only a few people cheered. Not many knew who the Kashime clan was.

"Not very 'famous', are we?" Daisuke muttered. Saratobi's eyes began to water.

"You mean after all that, I have to try again next year?" she asked the Hokage. Tsunade glanced down at her and turned back to the audience. "And Hoashi Saratobi! Give it up for her!" The Tsunade walked back to a small judge's stand with a few other important looking people in it. Gaara was there, as well, although nobody noticed him. A small group of men in black robes with red clouds on them stood in the crowd.

"Do you know those two?" a red-eyed man asked.

"Yes, I do. A long time ago, I taught them to use Henshin." A tall male with long black hair replied.

"Well, make sure they don't see you…." The red-eyed person said. Then he looked around through the crowds. "I think the Jinchuuriki is hiding here somewhere…" The taller man pulled out a shuriken and touched it. His hand glowed, and the weapon turned into a small insect. "Go find him." He commanded. The bug flew away and searched the crowd.

"Remind me which demon this one has inside of him." The Kashime said. The red-eyed man continued to look over the people.

"The Jinchuuriki's name is Saote, and he holds the six-tailed panther demon named Shueisha."

He replied from memory, "It seems Gaara's here." The Kashime nodded.

"Yes, he's the Kazekage, remember, Itachi?" he asked. Itachi shook his head. Then another man in a black robe covered in red clouds appeared out of nowhere.

"Masters Itachi and Katsuhiro! The search bug has found the boy!" he stated. Katsuhiro grinned.

"Now I guess we can cause chaos?" he wondered aloud. Itachi shook his head again.

"Let's let the Exams go on first. Then we'll capture the Jinchuuriki."

Meanwhile, in a small house outside of Konohagakure, Muchu and Korosuke planned their next attack. "What will we do next?" Korosuke asked, "Tell me what our next move will be." Muchu thought for a while. Soon, Korosuke noticed she wasn't paying any attention. "Miss Muchu!" Korosuke cried, getting her to concentrate on the matters at hand.

"We should gather the Jinchu Five." She said. Korosuke said nothing, for he didn't know who they were.

"Tell me, Miss," he whispered, "Tell me what it is you're trying to accomplish by taking out your brothers? Why must we kill them? What have they done to deserve this killing?" Muchu glared at him, causing him to flinch.

"Did I make you into one who asks questions like that?" she scolded. Korosuke lowered his head.

"Yes Miss. I will refrain from that kind of statement. I won't say anything like that ever again…"

Flashback… "Hey, guys! Want to go play by the river?" Muchu asked. Daisuke stood up, although he was exhausted.

"Nope! We gotta continue training with Katsuhiro sensei!" he replied, his voice very energetic. Korosu pushed up his oversized glasses and nodded, out of breath. Muchu fell silent. "What's wrong, sis?" Daisuke said. She turned away and started running. Daisuke and Korosu followed her to a big tree by the river that leads to the village hidden in the leaves.

"You guys don't have any time for me or our parents anymore!" she sobbed.

"Yeah, that's 'cause Katsuhiro sensei works us really hard!" Daisuke exclaimed. Korosu nodded again.

"But nobody else in this stupid town had to spend weeks at a time learning something most boys learn in a few months!" Muchu continued, "They won't even let me learn it!" Daisuke put his hand on her shoulder.

"Sorry…" he whispered, and then he and Korosu walked away. Muchu stared into the water for about an hour. Then a young woman walking by saw her sitting there.

"Muchu? What's wrong?" she asked, making her way over to the girl. Muchu didn't move. The woman continued, "I remember when you were known as 'the first child of Mayor Daisuke I'. But when we saw you here a few years ago, staring at nothing like you are now, we knew we'd call you 'Muchu.'" Then Muchu violently attacked the woman. She wrung her neck and threw her in the river.

"Die, die, die, die, die, die, die! Die!" Muchu screamed. Soon the woman was killed and Muchu let her float down the river into Konohagakure. "I will learn Henshin…and I'll be the best at it."

Back to the present… Katsuhiro looked at a large clock across the stadium. "It's time for me to head down there anyway," he said. He spun around and a new, white cape appeared in its place on his back. On the back of the cape was the Kashime clan symbol. Then he walked down a flight of stairs, leaving Itachi and a few other mysterious looking men.

"Now, if I may say something very important!" Tsunade called from the middle of the stadium. "The genin all get one full month of advanced training before the exams continue! So why are you here!" The crowd stopped cheering.

"I paid good money for these tickets!" a random person cried.

"The tickets are free! Come back in a month!" the Hokage announced. Tsunade then turned to the genin.

"The shinobi who will teach you is someone very advanced. Follow me to the back room where a collection of ninjas are waiting." Then she began walking towards a door. Everyone followed as the angry crowd got up and left.

Itachi slapped his forehead, "We have to find that guy now, before he gets away! Who said the exams were going on this month?" When the genin stepped inside the back room, they were shocked. A small group of very tough looking ninja were standing in a line.

"Most of these shinobi are beyond the jonin class in skill. Each will step forward and announce who they will be teaching for the next month." Tsunade said. Then Kankuro stepped forward.

"My name is Kankuro, and I'm teaching the entire Sand group." Hayate, Ryu, and Hitomi all walked behind him, where he grinned grimly at them all. "I hope you aren't afraid of puppets…" Kankuro whispered. Then a man with six wings stepped forward.

"My name is Inouye Yukinari, and I'm taking Oiyoba under my wing. Pun intended." He said. Oiyoba smiled.

"Awesome! Someone from my clan!" he cried happily. Then an incredibly tall man wrapped in bandages from head to toe shuffled forward. He slowly pulled down some of the wrappings from his mouth.

"My name is Zanza…" he muttered. His mouth was very shriveled up, "And I'm going to train Hiroshima Kiyuta…" Kiyuta cautiously walked to Zanza, who also had the bandages over his right eye. His left eye was stitched shut and covered in ash. The man next in line didn't step forward, but stayed hidden in a veil of shadow that only seemed to surround him.

"Our name is…not important, but we are the new teacher of Sausuke Isshinta." He whispered hoarsely. Isshinta froze, but Saratobi pushed him to the man. Then Gensai appeared out of nowhere.

"S'up! My name is Kishimoto Gensai, and, Saratobi, I'm going to be training just you." He said. Saratobi sighed in relief, but then thought about spending a full month with him.

'S'up, s'up, s'up, s'up…' she imagined.

Then an incredibly normal looking fellow with an unfamiliar headband stepped forward, "I am Karoli Raien, and I'm training Zawato and Satsuma." The two genin looked at eachother, confused, and stepped behind this foreign ninja. A woman with white eyes fiddled with her fingers.

"Um…my name is Hyuga Hinata, and Hyuga Setsuko is my trainee for the next month." She said quietly. Setsuko glared at her, causing her to step back in fear. He scoffed and walked around her. Finally, the last man in the room stepped forward.

"I'm an enigma, and the ones called Gaku and Fey are my pupils." He said quickly. As the two walked toward the enigma, Daisuke and Korosu stood confused.

"Are you teaching us, Hokage?" Daisuke asked. Tsunade shook her head and tapped her foot impatiently.

"No, but the buffoon who's supposed to is late. Then the door swung open.

"Grand entrance!" a voice cried. "Name: Kashime Katsuhiro!" he continued, diving in the room. "Idiots: Kashimes Daisuke and Korosu!" The brothers' jaws dropped.

"KATSUHIRO SENSEI!" Daisuke exclaimed, shocked. Katsuhiro winked at them.

"Hey boys. Long time, no see." Daisuke pointed to him and turned to Tsunade.

"What the hell is he doing here!" he asked chaotically. Then Katsuhiro kicked him in the face.

"Idiot. I'm here because I'll be training you for the next month." He said. Daisuke jumped up with a bloody nose.

"I know that much!" he cried.

"Then shut up. That's all the information you'll get." Katsuhiro replied, making a hand sign, "Meet me back where your house once stood. Training will begin immediately." Then he disappeared. Everyone just stood in confusion.

"I guess you know him…" Kankuro said, rubbing his chin.

"He never even showed up at last night's meeting. Weird guy." Gensai added. Then he took Saratobi by the shoulder. "We should go now, too. We're going to have to do a lot of work to get you to these guys' levels." Then they walked out the door. The Kashime brothers followed them, talking under their breath. Yukinari took a step outside as well.

"Well, you maggot," he said to Oiyoba, "Let's see how long you can fly. We're going all the way to Hokage mountain!" Oiyoba looked up at the towering monument to the Fire Shadows.

"I thought we'd head back to Waterfall first…" he said.

"Good idea!" Yukinari exclaimed, "Let's fly there instead!" Oiyoba groaned and took to the skies. Everyone else in the room stood quietly.

"Uh, Kankuro sensei?" Hitomi asked quietly. Kankuro looked down at her.

"What?" he replied, still standing idle.

"What are we waiting for?" Kankuro then sat down on a couch behind him.

"Night," he answered, "But I don't want any of you to move till it comes." Hinata giggled at him.

"Kankuro…you're so mean…" she whispered.

"Yeah, yeah." He replied.

"By the way, man, you know about the Aburame clan. Where are they?" Hayate asked, without moving.

"Shino!" Hinata cried. Hayate looked at her excitedly, and Kankuro threw a pencil at him.

"Turn around!" he commanded.

"Shino was in my cell when I was a genin," Hinata said, "He was very quiet, like me. But he wasn't shy like I was, he was just mysterious." Hayate tried to move his head again to look at her, but Kankuro threw another pencil at him.

"Can you tell me what he looked like?" Hayate asked, annoyed at his new teacher.

"Shino was very tall. You remember him very well, don't you Kankuro?" Hinata replied. Hayate spun around, surprised.

"Tell me!" he cried. Kankuro threw another pencil at him.

"Turn around! I'll tell you about this guy tomorrow." Then the guy veiled in shadow cackled.

"Very interesting. Young minds are such a mystery…Come, young Isshinta," he said, floating out the door, "We will teach you the true power of the Shinkan Okage." Isshinta followed, shyly. The enigma said nothing but took Gaku and Fey by the ears and walked outside as well. The two genin winced as they tried to keep up with their teacher's giant strides. Then Setsuko coughed, catching Hinata by surprise. Setsuko glared at her, suspiciously.

"Get used to me coughing, because I'll be doing it a lot." He said. Hinata fiddled with her fingers as she looked down at him.

"Why, do you smoke?" she asked. Setsuko raised an eyebrow, although his long hair covered it up.

"No…It's worse." He replied. Then he also left. Hinata franticly chased after him. Tsunade looked at the clock again.

"Well, I'm going home. Feel free to se this room as long as you want." Then she, too, walked away. The only remaining teachers were Kankuro, Zanza, and Raien.

"I wanted to ask you this…" Zawato muttered, staring at Raien. Raien hadn't opened his eyes or dropped his smile since they met him.

"Yes, young genin?" the foreign ninja asked.

"Where are you from? I've never seen that headband before." Zawato said.

Satsuma nodded, "Yeah, they never taught us about that at the academy." Raien turned to them.

"I am from the Crescent country. It makes sense for you to have never heard of it." He replied, making a hand sign. "I'll see you at the gate. I'll take you there now." Then he disappeared. Then Kiyuta folded his arms.

"Excuse me, Zanza sensei, but what are we going to do?" he asked impatiently. Zanza slowly pulled down his bandages again.

"If you want to leave…" was all he said. Then he pulled back up the bandages and, very sluggish, shuffled out the door. Kiyuta followed, having to stop walking a lot to let his teacher catch up. Hayate glanced at the clock.

"We're gunna be here forever…" he complained. Then Kankuro threw a pencil at him.

"Where do you get all those pencils!" Hayate cried.

Training with Kishimoto Gensai

The next day, Gensai got Saratobi up with a jolly "S'up!" at about four o'clock in the morning. She moaned as she followed her happy sensei through the city streets of Konohagakure. "I think I should tell you…I'm a morning person!" he cried. Saratobi rubbed her eyes.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"We're going to grab some breakfast and then we're hitting the books." He replied, speeding up.

"Books? Why books?" Saratobi wondered aloud.

"Outsmarting someone is a big part of being a ninja." Gensai said. Then he skidded to a stop, "Let's have fish for breakfast," he sat on the roadside stools and rung a bell on the counter, "S'up, fish lady!" he said to the waitress.

"Um…we're not open yet…" she replied. Gensai flashed a small card. "Oh! Kishimoto Gensai! I've heard all about you! Here, eat!" Then the waitress got out some raw fish and turned on the stove. Saratobi and Gensai ate quickly and soon hit the road again. "Here's our first stop…" Gensai said, opening the main door to a library.

Saratobi read a sign as she entered, "Shinobi Files."

An hour into the day, and Saratobi had her face stuck in a book. "Master Gensai," she said while turning a page, "All of these tactics are very tricky. Who wrote these?"

Gensai coughed and pointed to the cover of the book, "Look and see." Saratobi glanced at the book's cover and saw that the author was, in fact, her own teacher, Kishimoto Gensai.

"Whoa, Master! No wonder you're a jonin!" Saratobi exclaimed.

"Yes, I know, thank you…" he whispered with an inflated ego. Saratobi continued reading with more interest. Gensai watched her with a grin. "Saratobi, there's a reason I'm making you read my books. Not just to learn, that comes with the territory of reading. But in order to match the strength of your new rivals, you're going to need a few surprises," he explained, "You can be sure everyone else will show up at the third exam with new techniques." She looked up at him.

"So I need to outsmart them?" she asked.

Gensai nodded, "It just so happens that outsmarting is my specialty. That's why I'm going to teach you. We'll begin physical work when you read all of these books." Then he turned and walked out the door. Saratobi brushed some of her hair behind her ear.

"I know all those boys are idiots, so this shouldn't be too hard." She said quietly to herself.

Training with Hyuga Hinata

Hinata was too afraid to wake Setsuko up at a decent time, so she sat and waited for him next to his bed. He slept in a straight line, his eyes closed tight. At about ten o'clock in the morning, he opened one eye slightly.

"What are you doing?" he asked. Hinata jumped up, startled.

"Uh…I-I'm waiting for you…to..." then her voice trailed off and she looked away. Setsuko got out of the bed and put his shirt on.

"If you want me up at a certain time, just wake me. I'm not going to kill you for _that_." He said. Hinata blushed and turned away.

"Um…let's go train then…" she muttered, walking out the door. Setsuko coughed and followed her to a medium-sized room with a giant yin-yang in the middle. "Setsuko, you know about the Hyuga bloodline, right?" Hinata asked. Setsuko stared at the circular insignia on the floor.

"Actually, no, I don't." he replied. Hinata stepped backing amazement.

"But all Hyuga members should know!" she cried.

Setsuko closed his eyes and sat down, "I was seriously injured a long time ago, so I probably missed the lecture," Hinata sat down next to him. "But please, go ahead and ramble on about it…" Setsuko said sarcastically. Hinata took him seriously and nodded.

"Alright, if you want to know…The Hyuga family is split into two branches," she started, "The Cadet branch, and the Main branch. Both of us are from the Main branch. I guess that may be one reason they picked me to be your teacher; so I could tell you all this. Anyway, long ago, the Main branch passed rules and laws in favor of themselves, so the Cadet branch was always left out. That soon turned into a feud between the Hyugas." Then she glanced over at the very bored Setsuko. "Um…did they teach you how the Hyugas fight?" she asked. Setsuko shook his head and coughed.

"All I know is that the attacks are weak and ineffective." He said. Hinata fiddled with her fingers.

"Well, that isn't true. It's a fighting style called Juken, meaning 'gentile fist.' The point of fighting like this is to attack the inner organs by poking or thrusting the points on the Keirankuei…" Setsuko looked back at her.

"What is that?" he asked, gaining interest. Hinata stopped playing with her fingers and opened up to Setsuko a bit more.

"If you're willing to learn, I can teach you… Have you ever noticed that when you use Byakugan, you can see the inner workings of a person? That's the Keirakukei. It is what flows the chakra through our bodies, and attacking it will cause one to loose their control over it. So if you fix your gentile fist attacks on it, you can practically manipulate your opponent!" she exclaimed. Setsuko grinned evilly.

"That's awesome. Teach me it now so I may use it on the others!" he said. Hinata gulped and nodded. She stood up and took an open-fisted stance, with her arms spread apart.

"I'll show you Juken and the Keiankuei." She said. Setsuko jumped up and got in his closed-fist stance, with his arms close together. Hinata noticed this and ran over to him. "Here, move your arms like this…" she took his hands and placed them in the same position hers were in. Setsuko blushed and Hinata took stance again. "Now, let's go!" Hinata called, rushing at him.

Training with Inoyue Yukinari

"Well, maggot, I'm surprised you kept up with last nights drills!" Yukinari shouted in Oiyoba's face. "Now, what are you, private?" he continued. Oiyoba stood completely still, but he shook in fear. "I said, 'what are you, private'!" Oiyoba shrugged. "You are a worthless pile of garbage, do you hear me!" Yukinari cried. Oiyoba frowned.

"Do you really think that?" he asked.

"No, but I hear that's supposed to toughen you up…" Yukinari said, scratching his head, "Anyway, I guess I should explain to you the secret of the Six Wings of an Inoyuean Seraph, huh?" Oiyoba nodded. "Well, it's like this. You've got two wings now, and I have six. There's a difference in wings, aren't there? In order to unlock your other two pairs of wings, you must beat another Inoyue member at two separate contests. As in, it's very simple to get six wings." Yukinari said. Oiyoba adjusted his kefiyeh.

"How come nobody told me about that? I could have the wings by now!" he complained.

"Don't get your feathers up in a twist. You have to have a certain chakra level to be able to hold these giant pair of wings. They constantly drain your life-force, so I can only have them out for a while at a time." Yukinari replied, "So let's play a game…"

"I have to admit, Oiyoba, you make good puns." Yukinari said that evening.

"Thanks, Master Yukinari. You're puns are instant classics." Oiyoba replied. Yukinari nodded, poking at the fire they were sitting around with a stick.

"Too bad you lost." He whispered. Oiyoba frowned.

"How can I beat those puns? They blew me away...Pun intended…" he said. Yukinari gasped.

"That pun was awesome!" he cried, "I say that one beats me entirely!" Oiyoba jumped up.

"So I get more wings now?" he asked anxiously. Yukinari pushed him back down in his seat, "No, it seems you don't have enough chakra. Looks like I'm going to have to train you more…then you'll have to beat me at another contest…" Oiyoba groaned and fell off his chair.

Training with the Sausuke shadow

The seemingly insane man from the Sausuke clan had been working Isshinta nonstop since they began the first day. It was no the fifth day, and Isshinta had no chakra left in him. Still completely terrified of this nameless man, Isshinta trained weakly. The man hadn't brought Isshinta into his shadow world yet, but Isshinta had to use his quite a lot. Then finally, Isshinta collapsed from exhaustion.

"Get up, boy!" the man commanded. He had been bleeding from his shoulder for almost a full day now. The man felt no sympathy, so he left Isshinta there over night.

When he came back, Isshinta was gone. "Don't try to run, boy!" the man called, his eye darting back and forth. His eye was always wide open and very active. The other eye was covered by his incredibly long black hair. "You can't escape our Shinkan Okage technique!" he cried, releasing a shadow in the shape of his tattoo from his chest. It darted down a path and stuck to a tree. "Hiding in there, eh? Very good, boy! A Sausuke assassin should be able to hide anywhere!" he slowly made his way to the tree with a kunai in hand. "The Sauske clan is split between the workers and the assassins. You were born a worker, but given to us. We're only training you the same way we were, so come out!" Then Isshinta stuck his feet out of the tree. "Good. Come over here, boy." The shadow man whispered. Then Isshinta's legs turned into a shadow and he slithered up the tree. "Trying to escape in the branches? Well, take this! Dokukage! Poison Shadow!" the man yelled. His shadow covered the entire tree and it melted away and left nothing but a burnt log. The man gasped when he didn't see Isshinta there. "Where'd you go now, boy?" he asked. Isshinta's specter of a body crawled up the man's back and entered his mind. "Very impressive!" the man said, forcing Isshinta out with mind power alone. Isshinta solidified and he fell to the ground. The man turned around and grinned. "That was very good, boy. You've deserved a rest. We'll teach you to summon soon, so don't run off anywhere…"

That night, Isshinta ran to Konoha and tried to find the Hokage. As he turned the corner, he bumped into a person and fell over. "Whoa, kid, you look like crap. What happened?" the guy asked.

"Where's the Hokage!" Isshinta asked franticly.

"I don't know. I'm a drifter. What's wrong?" Isshinta started hyperventilating. "Kid, calm down! Who's after you? I know someone's after you." The guy said. Isshinta looked up at him with teary eyes.

"He refers to himself as more than one person! He's insane, and he's trying to kill me!" he cried. The guy got Isshinta up and took him by the shoulder that wasn't bloody.

"My name is…um…Cho, by the way." He said, as he ran off with Isshinta in search of the Hokage.


	7. Chapter 6 Part 2

-1Chapter 6 Part 2

Training with Zanza

"I think the day is done," said Kiyuta, wiping the sweat off his forehead,

"Let's get out of here." Zanza slowly nodded and stood up. As long as they were inside, Kiyuta noticed, Zanza always had his bandages off his mouth. "You did very good…" Zanza muttered. Kiyuta grinned, but quickly lost it when he thought of the training Ryu must be going through.

"Zanza sensei, I was wondering when I will learn some new techniques?" he asked. Zanza began to walk away, sluggish, as usual.

"You are a master of movement, although nobody's ever seen you in battle…" he said. Kiyuta raised an eyebrow.

"You know about that?" he asked.

"Yes, I know more about you than you think…but in order to expand on your expertise, I'd like to see you battle first-hand…" Zanza replied with a small grin on his face. Kiyuta chuckled, causing Zanza to stop and look.

"You can hardly walk, let alone battle me! I don't mean to sound cocky, sensei, but there's no way someone as slow as you could take me on!" he cried. Zanza took out a pocket watch and stared at it.

"I have five minutes…more than enough time…to silence you…" he said. Kiyuta shrugged and jumped back. Zanza turned and pointed to his new pupil. "It's more than speed alone…" he whispered, "but how you use it that matters…." Then a needle appeared out of nowhere and pierced Kiyuta's stomach. When Kiyuta looked back up at Zanza, he was gone. The tall mummified man reappeared behind him and, with unlikely speed, smashed Kiyuta in the side of the head with his fist. Kiyuta rolled back so far, that he practically fainted. He slowly got to his knees and noticed Zanza wasn't there any more.

"Sensei, I give up! That was unexpected!" he cried. Then the man appeared in the corner of Kiyuta's eye. When Kiyuta turned to look, Zanza was already in his face. And although he didn't move, Kiyuta fell over from an unseen attack.

"Perfect. I still have four minutes and thirty seconds…" Zanza said. Kiyuta scrambled to his feet.

"Sensei, that wasn't even fair!" he shouted. Then he ripped the needle out his stomach and threw it to the ground, "Where the heck did this needle come from! I didn't see you throw anything! All you did was point at me!" Then it hit him, "You use the same trick that Kashime Daisuke uses! Hidden weapons!" Zanza pulled down his sleeve.

"They're called shadow instruments." He said slowly. "But I'm not going to allow you to use them…the point in our exercise is to see if you can dodge them all. I have eight total…when you can evade every one, then your training will be complete."

Kiyuta was left alone each day from then on. Zanza would appear at random times and use a shadow instrument to fight him. Basically, Kiyuta got hurt every day. But he was free to do whatever he wanted; like go to the hospital. Normally he trained, or waited for his sensei to attack, but today, he decided to walk the busy and narrow streets of Konoha.

"This town is gigantic compared to mine…" he said to himself, starring at the Hokage Mountain. The heroic faces of past Fire Shadows made him feel quite comfortable. "It seems so safe here…but that invasion from Sound a few years ago changed my mind." Then he noticed Saratobi following Gensai, leisurely. "Excuse me, aren't you Saratobi?" Kiyuta asked, making his way to her. She nodded.

"You're Hiroshima Kiyuta, the really short guy who fights with shadow clones!" she replied. Kiyuta glared at her.

"I'm four foot and eleven inches tall, thank you…anyway, have you seen anyone I might want to train with around here?" he asked. Saratobi thought.

"Um…I saw Setsuko the other day…" Kiyuta grinned.

"That scarecrow kid? That's easy-pickings, my dear girl." He said.

Then Gensai grabbed Saratobi by the shoulder, "Come on, we've got things to do." Saratobi waved good-bye and chased after Gensai, who walked away. "By the way, s'up, Zanza!" Gensai yelled back. Kiyuta's eyes widened.

"Zanza!" he cried. Then the seven foot tall master appeared and threw a bag at him. It exploded and a cloud of small particles fogged his vision.

"Poison? No, this is…iron!" Kiyuta shouted, tasting a few particles. A flurry of kunai and shuriken flew in from nowhere, but Kiyuta dived out of the cloud just in time. Or so he thought, because the weapons all turned in midair and struck him in the legs.

"The iron acted as a magnet!" Zanza laughed and teleported away.

Training with Karoli Raien

On the first day, Zawato and Satsuma met Raien at Konoha's gates. "I'll take you to Crescent village, as promised…" he had said. They followed him through a forest for many an hour until they had reached a giant open space. Raien turned to them, still smiling, and his eyes still closed. "Here we are…Isn't this place great?" he asked. Zawato had scratched his head.

"Yes, it sure is…" he muttered, afraid. Their new sensei seemed to have lost his sanity. Satsuma had then noticed a small mound of something in the middle of the space. Raien had led them over to the mound, which was many blocks stacked to resemble a city.

"These are children's building blocks…" Zawato said. Then Raien opened his left eye and it struck his two students with fear. They had shrunk down into a miniature size…small enough to enter the village hidden under the crescent.

Now, Zawato, Satsuma, and Raien all trained together at a small size. "Believe me, you two, there is a major advantage here. Training at a smaller size will have a larger effect when I bring you back to Konohagakure." Raien said when they had begun their cool-downs. Zawato picked up all of his fallen weapons. Raien watched him with a bigger smile. "If you can master your little technique, Zawato, you could be a very formidable foe come battle time." He said. Satsuma sat against one of the over-sized blocks. "You though," Raien sighed kneeling by her, "need some work. Don't you have any ninja art at all?" Satsuma shook her head. Raien bit his thumb, finally frowning. "Well, I could teach you my art of…shrinking things. It comes in handy for any occasion."

Three days later, Zawato and Satsuma had begun to spend a lot of time together. Raien hid behind a tall block, listening to them. "You've gotten much better…" Zawato said, coolly.

"Th-thank you, Zawato. You too." Satsuma stammered. "…I'm sorry about your brother." Zawato continued to try and flatter her. She nodded and looked away. Zawato took her by the chin and turned her head to face him. He went in for the kiss, but Raien appeared in front of them, with an ear-to-ear grin on.

"That was too close! This isn't about strengthening your relationship; it's about strengthening your skill!" he said, "Remember, it's focused on style! Let's learn some flashy jutsus to impress the judges!"

Training with an enigma

Gaku and Fey couldn't be any more opposite. They argued over everything, and this annoyed the enigma. He had the same solid facial expression on most of the time, so neither genin could read him. Their training went deep. Beyond just strength training, but advanced jutsus and even basic summoning. All the teachers by now had quit battling their pupils and focused mainly on special techniques.

"Strength alone won't win you any battles," the enigma said, as Gaku read a book of available jutsus, "A man met two travelers along the road. He asked one for a map and the other for food. While neither traveler could oblige, they both recommended that the man go to the town twenty minutes south. The man then killed both travelers and took their equipment, only to be arrested by the authorities in the town twenty minutes south." Gaku and Fey both smiled at their master.

"You like parables, don't you?" Fey asked, sitting on a stump. The enigma nodded and took out a small notepad. He flipped through the pages, each full of parables he had apparently spoken.

"Geez, man, it's like all you say is parables!" Gaku exclaimed, overreacting. The enigma stood up after quickly jotting down his new quote.

"The weakened mice best hold their tongue before the searching eagle, lest they've found a good solace in one another." He said. Gaku closed his book.

"Wait, what? I didn't even understand that. It had something to do with teamwork, I think. Repeat it to me." The enigma continued to stare down his disrespectful student.

"If the jester refuses to cease joking, the king will have him beheaded, is what I'm saying, Watashi Gaku." He warned. That got Gaku to shut up and go back to reading.

Fey laughed, "That was good, Master…um…"

The enigma glanced at her, "You will call me Shiso."

Half a month into the training period, and every ninja preparing had learned something of significance. Even Gaku and Fey, who were the bottom two fighters in the third exam, had shown improvement.

"Gaku, it appears you took Shiso sensei's advice on your apparel. I like you better with your hair down like that," Fey said as the two genin walked down a path to the canyon they trained on.

"Yeah, well, I think it sucks. He wouldn't know fashion if it bit him in the…" Gaku started, but he stopped talking and turned around. Shiso stood before him.

"Fashion isn't a factor here, Gaku, and neither is how I want you to wear your hair. Don't worry about it and stay quiet for once." He said. Then he led them down to the canyon.

"Have you practiced those techniques I showed both of you?" Shiso asked, looking down the cliff.

"Yeah, but how is switching bodies with people gunna help me?" Gaku asked, taking off his jacket. Shiso had recommended he left it off anyway.

Fey sighed, "Think about it." Gaku thought and came up with nothing.

"Then do it when I tell you to…" Shiso whispered. He took out a shuriken and hurled it at the unsuspecting Gaku.

"Now!" Shiso cried. Gaku made a hand sign and shut his eyes in fear.

"Advanced replacement jutsu!" he shouted. He and his master switched places, and Shiso caught the shuriken he threw at Gaku. But now that Gaku was one the cliff's edge, he fell off it backwards. Fey gasped and made four quick hand signs. The gravitational pull on Gaku stopped, and he was left suspending in mid-air.

"Very good, Fey," Shiso said, impressed, "You've made substantial progress."

That night, Shiso explained the exams and each opponent in detail. "Your three biggest challenges are Kusen Ryu, Inoyue Oiyoba, and Hayate of the Sand. Pray you don't get paired up with one of them in a battle. If you do, fight until you can't, then forfeit. But, let's not speak of failure. The three I hope you get to battle are Hoashi Saratobi, trained by Kishimoto Gensai, Shimasu Satsuma, trained by Karoli Raien, and Sausuke Isshinta, trained by another Sausuke." He explained, "I expect that the Sausuke has been trained beyond anything I could teach you, and, knowing Gensai, Saratobi is probably armed with knowledge. But that Raien character…I don't know anything about him." Gaku and Fey nodded. Shiso smiled at them and took out his notepad of parables, "I'll take note of you two. You began as two undisciplined, inexperienced, and ill-equipped genin, but you'll leave me as two hard, intelligent, and swift killing machines. Don't let me down." Gaku grinned.

"Thanks, but we still have two weeks left…"

Training with Kankuro

The first night, Kankuro had them battle three of his puppets in the dark. Hitomi and Hayate had received quite the beating, but Ryu was untouched. Hayate had collapsed from exhaustion, so Kankuro waited until the next day to tell him about Shino of the Aburame clan.

When Hayate woke up, he had to push the sleeping Hitomi off of him. "Who put you there?" he whispered, rubbing his eyes. Ryu walked around from behind a tree.

"Good morning. I got you breakfast, although I'm sure you won't like it." He said, handing Hayate a plate of rice.

"---The hell is this?" Hayate asked, taking the plate.

"Kankuro put each of us on a pure rice diet. That includes you too, cannibal." Ryu replied, setting the other plate next to Hitomi.

"Didn't you tell him I only eat meat? Human meat?" Hayate said putting his plate down on the ground.

"Yes, and he just shook his head and laughed," Ryu stated, pulling down his mask, "By the way, he's ready to talk to you about that Aburame person now." Hayate jumped up and ran off, leaving his rice for Ryu to wolf down.

"Shino…we fought during this time at the Chunin Exams six years ago. He's not that much older than you. After Ryu told me your background story, I can tell you right now it wasn't Shino." Kankuro said.

"How'd Ryu know!" Hayate cried, without thinking, "Oh, yeah, we read minds…" Kankuro shifted in his seat.

"How'd you get to read minds, anyway?" he asked. Hayate shrugged.

"Well, it's not that important. You can here to learn about the Aburame clan..." Kankuro then looked away, "Hey. If you want to know, just read my mind." He said. Hayate growled.

"It takes chakra, you know." He complained, but Kankuro didn't seem to care.

"Alright, fine!" he cried, closing his eyes.

"Ryu didn't have to close his eyes…" Kankuro said, breaking Hayate's concentration.

"Ryu's a pro! He can even read the future! Now shut up, so I can get some decent information!"

Half a month later, Hayate, Ryu, and Hitomi had become fighting machines, as if they weren't already. Kankuro knew how good they already were so he only trained them for things in the long run, expecting them to pass the third exam with flying colors.

"Just go do anything you want until the exam, but don't get fat or quit training." He had said. The three set off to do different things, and Hayate began his quest for the Aburame clan.

Training with Kashime Katsuhiro

On the first day, the brothers met their master where Kashime village once stood. When the clan was wiped out, the village was cleared down and used for construction, but it never happened. All that stood was a shack laborers stayed in when they attempted to build over Kashime village. On the outskirts of Konoha, many people wanted to use it as something ninja related, due to their growth in people who joined the ninja way of life. They trained there, where their memories of the good and bad times filled the air.

"That's where Korosu earned his name." Daisuke said, pointing to an open field of dead grass. Korosu lost all emotion and walked towards it.

"I can still smell his blood…" he muttered, kneeling in the middle of the field. He grabbed a chunk of the dead blades, and grinned, "But he deserved it…" he continued. Daisuke followed his brother to the center of the field and punched him in the back of the head.

"Remember what Katsuhiro said? One reason we'll be training here is because he have to endure these memories!" he cried. Korosu picked up his glasses that had fallen off.

"Yes, I'm sorry…I was only ten back then, you know?" he asked. Katsuhiro watched them with a smile.

"Boys, you're both idiots. For that, I'll teach you summoning…Kashime style!"

From then on, Katsuhiro taught them the Henshin Summon. Known as the improved version of Henshin itself, this maneuver used up a massive amount of chakra.

"Think of something fearful," Katsuhiro said, drinking from a sake jug, "Something that'll make me piss my pants and send me crying. Then summon it. With Henshin, you can summon anything." Daisuke and Korosu looked at eachother.

"Is that the real truth behind Korosuke? Is he just Muchu's Henshin Summon?" Daisuke whispered.

"A Henshin Summon can change shapes at your own will, and, in all cases, it can talk back to you." Katsuhiro continued, drunk.

"Then why would she lie about making him with the hundreds of dead bodies?" Daisuke asked. Korosu pushed up his glasses and scoffed.

"She was just trying to psyche us out." He replied. Daisuke shook his head and finally listened to his teacher.

"Something fearful…" he said, concentrating on all his memories, "I've got one…What about you, bro?"

Korosu nodded, rubbing his hands together, "I'll go first." He took out a needle and squeezed it. It transformed into a giant representation of the Death god, Shinigami. It flew at Katsuhiro at mach speed, screaming like a banshee. Katsuhiro stood as firm as a drunken man could be, and let the fake spirit fly through him.

"I thought that would work…" Korosu whispered. Once the ghostly visage turned back into a needle, Katsuhiro took it and threw it back at Korosu. Korosu was going to catch it, but it transformed into Katsuhiro and punched him in the face. "Replacement jutsu?" Korosu asked, straggling backwards.

"No, you idiot, that was a true Henshin Summon. Your attempt was just Genjutsu garbage. A summon is a solid fighting partner…to the Kashimes." Katsuhiro replied, still standing where he was when he threw the needle, "Daisuke, you try." He nodded and took out a shuriken. "The only two downfalls to this form of summoning is the amount of chakra it consumes and the fact that it is made from a weapon or other metal." Katsuhiro said, as Daisuke concentrated. Then Daisuke jumped in the air and whipped the shuriken at his master. It exploded and from out of the smoke flew a larger form of Korosuke. The imitation mutant roared and tried to smash Katsuhiro with its oversized arm as it flew down. Katsuhiro placed one hand on its fist and tossed it aside. The fake Korosuke rolled back along the floor and disappeared in smoke. "How do you know about _him_?" Katsuhiro asked, fixing his glare on Daisuke. The elder brother panted in shortage of breath from losing so much chakra.

"It's Muchu's Henshin Summon, isn't it?" he asked back, confidently. Katsuhiro grinned.

"You wish, idiot. Last time the Jinchu Five gathered, we all watched her make it from the corpses of every other Kashime." He replied.

"And you didn't try and stop her!" Daisuke yelled. Katsuhiro shrugged.

"She went totally insane. I couldn't stop her, not even with the help of Sanjuro." He said, taking another drink from his sake jug. Daisuke and Korosu gasped and fell silent. "In fact," Katsuhiro continued, "She even made another creature that attacked your little genin friends back at the tower. And she made those three injured ninja who gave you the scroll in the forest, come to think of it…" Then all three of the Kashimes stood still.

One month after all the training began, everyone gathered back at the coliseum, including the annoyed crowd from last month. "I can't believe she put a price on the admittance! That was so my idea!" cried the man who had complained about how he had to pay to get in last month. Itachi and Katsuhiro stood in a dark corner.

"Nobody needs to know we're here…" Itachi mumbled, his red eyes searching the crowd for the person they were still on the hunt for.

"He keeps changing his name," Katsuhiro said, now in his black and red robe, "So nobody's heard of him before…" Itachi shook his head and disappeared.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let me announce the judges for today! We have a baker's dozen of beautiful shinobi sitting in the booth today, let's give them a hand!" Tsunade cried, in her announcer personality. The audience cheered and whistled as a few of the judges waved back. "Let's see who's in the booth this fine midday!" Tsunade said, making her way to the booth in which the judges sat. "Hey, what's your name?" she asked, putting a microphone up to the man's mouth.

"I'm the Kazekage…my name is Gaara." He said quietly. Tsunade continued down the line.

"Great to have you, Gaara, and who do we have here?" The next person leaned back far in his chair, far from the mic.

"I'm Kankuro. I taught the Sand trio, and I bet that they'll all win." He said.

Next was Hinata, "Um…I'm Hyuga Hinata, and I represent Setsuko…" Tsunade smiled and moved on.

"Name's Karoli Raien!" he shouted, "I'm here on behalf of Zawato and Satsuma!" Next up was an empty seat.

Then Gensai appeared out of nowhere, "S'up! I'm Kishimoto Gensai, and I taught Saratobi!" The next seat was also empty.

"That's my chair, folks!" Tsunade said, moving on. An extremely tall person was next.

"…Zanza, here because of Kiyuta…" he whispered. The man in the next two chairs was laughing at a joke he heard from the man next to him.

"Excuse me, Mr. Laugh Your Pants Off; care to tell us your name?" Tsunade asked.

"Inoyue Yukinari. I trained Oiyoba." He said, and continued to laugh.

"And I'm Kashime Katsuhiro!" he announced leaning into the mic. Tsunade continued and placed the microphone by the next man.

"My name is Aburame Shino…" he whispered. Fortunately, Hayate was in another room with all the other genin. The next man chose to say nothing.

"He's here for Watashi Gaku and Aikakze Fey," Tsunade read from a list, and then she moved on to the last person.

"We are the Sausuke assassins, and we have brought Isshinta to the fray. We promise you all: he will pass!"

The genin waited patiently in the back room. Nobody was anxious to battle, nor were they afraid. They just stood.

"Anybody learn some cool moves they wouldn't mind sharing?" Oiyoba asked, sitting on the couch. Everyone glared at him, but said nothing. He really just wanted to see their eyes. Yukinari had told him that you can tell how hard they've been trained by viewing their eyes. Satsuma's stood out, because her left eye was taped shut. Other than that, he noticed, only Isshinta had a totally different look to him. Then the door opened and a black-haired man walked in.

"Hey, you all gotta come outside now…" he said, reading a book.

"H-Hey, aren't you…Cho? The guy who helped me out a few weeks ago?" Isshinta asked.

"No, my name is…Hiko…" Cho lied in return.

Meanwhile, Muchu stood beside Korosuke outside the coliseum. "Here we are, Korosuke; the third exam." Muchu said. A man in a uniform stood in front of the door.

"Can I help you?" he asked. Muchu pointed to the man and Korosuke leapt onto him. Korosuke's jaws ripped open and thousands of weapons fired at the man's head from point-blank.

"Well, I'd say I'm sorry, but I'd be lying. And by saying that I am sorry would make me a liar, which is a lie." Korosuke said when his jaws reformed into the correct position. Muchu stared up the walls.

"Katsuhiro and Yatsume are in there. Let's wait for the exams to end, and then we'll ambush the brothers Kashime."

"First battle: Hyuga Setsuko vs. Hayate. No holds barred, you two! Go all out!" Tsunade announced, as the two vicious looking genin walked out into the middle of the arena. The crowd roared as they stared eachother down.

"Learn any new tricks?" Setsuko asked, mockingly, "Oh, yes…You _can't_ teach an old dog new tricks…silly me." Hayate scoffed and shook his head.

"I hope your sensei teaches you some better insults next time," he said, "Because I'm sending you right back to her!" Setsuko grinned.

"Is that so? Well, for your information, I learned quite a lot of new tricks. Now I'll get my revenge for what you did to Sasuma!" he cried, then he ran at Hayate with his back arched. He thrusted his open hand at Hayate's chest, but Hayate blocked him with his arm.

"You're gunna have to be faster than that!" Hayate yelled, flipping Setsuko over himself. Setsuko landed on his feet, but his arm was still in the hands of Hayate. Then Hayate swung Setsuko around in a full circle, and the Hyuga used the momentum of being swung to land on his feet and swing Hayate around. He released Hayate and watched as he rolled across the floor.

"Interesting turn of events!" Tsunade said into the microphone, "It seems that Hyuga Setsuko was trained very well by his teacher, Hyuga Hinata! Based on previous battles, Setsuko was considered to have achieved fourth or fifth this year!" Setsuko chuckled to himself, "Fourth? Please…If I have just have to beat this guy, being first won't be a problem…" Hayate jumped up.

"Nice, kid, real nice." He said. Then Hayate ran at Setsuko and jumped up high in the air. Setsuko kept his eyes on his opponent, but didn't expect that Hayate would be in front of him.

'Clones?' Setsuko thought, as he looked back down and got punched in the stomach. He fell to one knee and got kicked across the face.

"Go, Setsuko! Use Juken!" Hinata cried from the judge's booth. Setsuko leapt up and grinned.

"Don't fret, Hinata, he'll be feeling it soon." He replied.

"What are you talking about?" Hayate asked, about to cross his arms, but the left one gave out. "What the heck? What'd you do!" he yelled, noticing three dimples on his arm.

"I just poked you. Guess I'm stronger than you thought?" Setsuko said, taking his new open-handed stance. Kankuro leaned farther back in his chair.

"Hayate, quit screwing around and beat this guy!" he yelled. Hayate growled and tried moving his left arm again, but to no prevail. Instead, he appeared behind Setsuko, where he swung his right fist across the boy's head. Setsuko crashed into the floor and rolled over. He then clamped his legs around Hayate's.

"Don't you move, kid!" Hayate cried, but Setsuko used his hands to flip backwards from the floor. Because his feet were attached to Hayate's, they switched positions. Now on the ground, Hayate groaned in pain. Setsuko rolled across Hayate and poked him in the other arm seven times, so fast that most people didn't catch it.

"Whoa, Setsuko got good!" Daisuke exclaimed.

"I agree. That wolf boy is finally getting what he deserves." Korosu replied, nodding. Then Hayate scrambled up, without the use of any of his arms.

"That's it! I'm unleashing _it_, sensei!" he screamed, biting the wrappings around his arms off. Kankuro and Ryu both nodded.

"What's _it?" _Hitomi asked, rubbing the scar around her neck left by Saratobi.

"It's his curse-mark, from what I can tell," Ryu said, observing in interest, "But I never found out what it does. I want it to be a surprise." After all of the wrappings were removed, a dark design could be seen coming from his shoulders. It was growing, as well. Tsunade dropped the mic, but quickly picked it back up.

'Orochimaru got him, too? What's this boy's connection with him?' she thought. Setsuko smirked.

"Are you trying to scare me with a tattoo?" he asked. Hayate just continued to growl. His already sharp teeth began to grow until they stuck out of his mouth. Then his eyes sharpened and he became much more animal-like.

"You're going down now," he muttered, leaning forward. Setsuko stood firm, but immediately fell over, because Hayate had somehow punched him in the ribs.

"But I disabled your arms!" Setsuko cried. Then the cursed Hayate bit Setsuko's right arm. The audience fell silent.

"You speak of revenge, but all I see is you losing to same way as your comrade." Hayate said, taking another bite out of Setsuko's arm. Tsunade was about to step in and stop the battle, but Hayate began yelping rapidly. He got off of Setsuko and grabbed his head. "Earth style: Death by Burial!" he cried. He shoved his hands into the ground and began pulling. The audience gasped as Hayate pulled a giant boulder out of the ground. Setsuko looked up and made a hand sign.

"Byakugan!" he said. Then he jumped up and poked Hayate. In Setsuko's Byakugan vision, he noticed a pulsing node in Hayate's Keirankuei. That's where he attacked. The curse on Hayate wore off, and he was left standing there with a giant boulder over his head. The two boys screamed as it dropped on them both. Tsunade ran out and grabbed to rock.

"Seems we have an interesting turn of events…" she said as she pulled the boulder of the boys, but both of them were gone. All of the sudden, Hayate crawled out of the ground, without the use of his hands. Setsuko stood on top of the boulder with his bleeding arms crossed. Tsunade put the rock down and stepped back.

"I'm not done yet…" Setsuko said, leaping off the boulder at his opponent. Hayate looked up and moved his head to one side, so Setsuko would miss him. When the Hyuga landed, he was head butted in the back. Hayate followed Setsuko's body as it skidded across the ground. He put his foot on the back of Setsuko's head and rubbed it in the ground.

"You got your revenge…" he whispered, but then his arms could move again. He stretched them out and grinned.

"I take that back. You failed." Tsunade ran over and lifted Hayate's arm up in the air. "The winner: Hayate of the Sand!" she announced. Kankuro nodded, and wrote something down on a paper in front of him, as well as the other judges. Hayate walked back to the sidelines.

"You may have overdone it a little…" Ryu said, laughing. Hayate spit on the ground towards Setsuko.

"He deserves it after all his talk."

Meanwhile, outside, Muchu and Korosuke sat patiently. "Did the fighting end?" Muchu asked. Korosuke's head was underground for a few seconds, but then it came back up.

"Yes, Miss. The two kids have stopped fighting. At the end of their battle was a winner. The winner was victorious!" Korosuke cried, shaking his fists. Muchu smiled.

"Yes, winners normally are victorious…" she replied quietly. She pulled her legs up and rested her head on her knees. Then they saw three figures walking towards them from nearby. Muchu lifted her head as the three men surrounded her and Korosuke.

"Good afternoon, miss. Are you trying to get inside?" The tallest man asked. He had pale skin and sharp eyes.

"No, thank you, I'm just waiting…" Muchu replied, with a fake smile. The man to his right pushed up his large glasses.

"So then, are the doors locked?" he asked. Muchu stared at him with a hysterical grin on her face. Her eyes widened as she stood up.

"Korosu?" she said, grabbing him by the shoulders. The man glanced at her and placed his hand on her arm.

"Get your hands off of me…" he said. Then his hands glowed, and Muchu twitched. She drew back, realizing she was mistaken.

"She's just an insane case, Kabuto, don't bother asking her anything." The shortest man said. Korosuke crawled up to his feet.

"Don't make fun of Miss Muchu! It is she who should make fun of you, for you have a hideous zigzag hairline!" he said. The short man grinned.

"What an insult, freak…" he whispered. Then the three men continued walking.

"I sure showed them what is up, yes, Miss? I totally showed them who not to mess with!" Korosuke said, watching the three leave. Muchu grinned,

"This is perfect…"

"Second battle: Kashime Daisuke vs. Watashi Gaku!" Tsunade cried, "Any words on this battle you two?" she asked the boys' teachers.

"Although Daisuke is an idiot, I think he can beat this guy to a pulp." Katsuhiro said, rubbing his chin. The enigma said nothing, as usual, and sat back down.

"To stunned to speak, I guess! Now boys, let's battle!" Tsunade announced. Daisuke and Gaku groaned. "Again? I have to fight you again?" Gaku asked himself.

"At least I know I can win." Daisuke said.

"Shut up, man. I've trained so hard, and I'm not about to let it go to waste." Gaku replied. Daisuke glanced at Hayate, who was shaking out his arms.

"Those guys in the last battle didn't show off enough…" he said, going back to staring at Gaku, "Let the kings of boasting fight." Then he starting running at Gaku, who smiled.

"Let's," he cried, dodging Daisuke's rush, "Go all out!" Then Gaku threw a shuriken at his rival. Daisuke deflected it and countered with the kunai on a chain from his sleeve. Gaku made a hand sign, indicating something.

"Advanced replacement jutsu!" he shouted. Daisuke and Gaku switched positions on the ground, bringing Gaku into safety. Daisuke, on the other hand, fell to a knee. The chain was coming out of his sleeve, but it went into his shoulder. "Whoa, I didn't even think that would work…" Gaku said, grinning. Daisuke winced and ripped the kunai out.

"You've learned some fancy jutsu, so what? You haven't seen my new moves yet." He said. Then he drew his two swords. Gaku continued to grin.

"Oh my, Daisuke, that's really a new move. I'm afraid." He said sarcastically. Then one of the blades suddenly extended and cut some of Gaku's hair of as he dodged it.

"That isn't new, either, but this is!" Daisuke cried, "Henshin: Level One: Summon!" His other blade exploded in smoke and light. Gaku covered his eyes with his arms as a giant radiant beast stepped out of the explosion. It looked as if it was made of stone, and it had a large sword in one hand. Daisuke fell over in exhaustion as the giant lifted its sword into the air.

"Oh!" Korosuke exclaimed from out side the coliseum.

"What is it?" Muchu asked, leaning up against him.

"It appears Daisuke has learned to summon Henshin creatures! I know this because he just summoned a Henshin creature." Korosuke replied, with his eyes extending out from the back of his head. He was looking in the stadium through a crack in the wall. Muchu stroked the backside of her hand across Korosuke's side.

"What did he create? Anything as great as you?" she asked, turning around to see him.

"No, Miss. But you flatter me to much. Flattering leads to bad things, so if I was allowed to disagree with you, I would." Korosuke said, drawing his eyes back to his head. Muchu stared emptily at his face. "Not again, Miss! Snap out of it! Regain your hold!" Korosuke cried, shaking her.

"Korosuke," Muchu said, still staring blankly, "Have I ever told you about the people you're made out of?" Korosuke released her and shook his head. "You consist of very important people…My mother, my father, my best friend, and my boyfriend. We were on the verge of marrying, my boyfriend and I…" Muchu explained.

"Then why did you curse them all and make me? I am not a living memory of them, if that's what you're thinking. I am a curse you made by using their bodies as memories…? Wait…what?" Korosuke asked himself, foolishly.

"I made you so I can kill the brothers Kashime!" Muchu screamed. Korosuke sighed and nodded.

"Yes, yes, I know…"


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Oh, crap!" Gaku cried. The giant brought down his sword and caused a massive quake when it hit the ground. The audience coughed from all the dust and the enigma stepped next to the giant.

"Don't tell me you got killed, Gaku," he said, "One brags so much over a small rivalry, and then he dies. That's what I _would_ say if you were dead…" Then he looked back and saw Gaku panting from a loss of chakra. "What did you switch places with?" The enigma asked, impressed. Gaku slowly got to his feet and grabbed his spinning head.

"A bug…I just tried switching with the nearest thing, which just happened to be a bug…" he answered. The enigma grinned and walked back to his seat next to Shino in the judge's booth.

"Thank you, Aburame Shino…" he whispered. Shino nodded his head and wrote something down on his scoring card. The giant began to fade away, and the small Aburame insect crawled out, unharmed. Daisuke rolled over on the floor, almost out of energy.

"Get up, you idiot!" Katsuhiro shouted furiously. Daisuke winked and sat up.

"What happened? Did I win?" he asked. Gaku stood behind him, with most of his stamina returned to him. He kicked Daisuke in the back and chuckled.

"You wasted all your chakra on that thing! You're so dumb! Now I can easily defeat you." He said.

Daisuke got up as fast as he could and faced Gaku, "I still have enough energy to waste you…" Gaku raised an eyebrow.

"Really now?" he asked, "Then let's go! Round two!"

"I know he's still here…what a fool that Jinchuuriki is." Itachi said as he led another robed man down a long hallway.

"How good is he a battling?" the man asked, calmly.

"Nobody knows, nor do they care. He won't be a problem for us…" Itachi replied. They entered a very small room with only one person inside.

"May I help you?" the person asked. Itachi and the other robed man stared this person down.

"You are the elusive Jinchuriki, the one who keeps changing his name and his occupations…" the man next to Itachi said.

"No, my name is…

A man and a woman entered the village. They wore tunics and straw hats as if they had been traveling, and they carried large bags. A Konoha gate guard smiled at them.

"Welcome, you two! I suppose you're here to watch the exam?" he asked. The traveling man had massive muscles all over his body and he towered above the woman with him. He looked down at the man with a scowl.

"Where is it?" he asked roughly. The guard calmly pointed north.

"You're a little late…" he said. The two travelers nodded and began to walk away. The woman glanced back at the guard and winked at him. He blushed and then widened his eyes. He pulled out a sword and stabbed himself in the stomach.

"Was that necessary, Satomi?" the muscular man asked.

"No, but I couldn't help it…he looked like such a push-over." The man pulled down his hat and growled. "Things are going to start falling apart very soon…" Then a young man ran around the corner and bumped right into the traveling man.

"Oh, sorry. I'm in a rush." The large man picked him up and stared at him.

"Don't touch me." He said. The young man grinned and slapped the larger man's wrist. He dropped him and shook his hand in pain.

"Sanjuro, what'd he do?" Satomi asked. Sanjuro, the traveling man chuckled.

"You're Saote, the Jinchuuriki with nine lives, aren't you?" he asked. Saote gasped.

"How'd you know who I am? I have nine aliases to hide my identity!" Sanjuro pulled his hat down again.

"You are very cat-like…just as expected." He said.

"Dang, man! How do you know all that!" Saote yelled. Then his ears twitched. He looked back and frowned.

"I gotta run…" he said, and with that, he disappeared.

Zanza slowly glanced at his clock. He then looked over at Katsuhiro. The two stood up and walked over to Tsunade. They whispered in her ear that they had to leave. Tsunade just sighed and let them go. Once outside the stadium, the two noticed Muchu sleeping against Korosuke.

"Muchu!" Katsuhiro shouted, shaking her. She moaned and opened her eyes.

"Katsuhiro? Yatsume? Is it time already?" she asked. Zanza nodded and removed the bandages around his face. Every feature he had was burnt off. Nose, ears, lips, and all. "You're looking better, Yatsume." Muchu said sarcastically.

"Shut it," he replied, "My burns are getting worse, and you know it." Muchu winked and slapped his shoulder playfully.

"I know, I'm just teasing you! But seriously, let's wait for Sanjuro and Satomi to arrive." She said. Just then, the two travelers came into view walking down the road toward them.

"There they are." Katsuhiro whispered. The five gathered in a big circle when Sanjuro and Satomi met up with them. "Alright," Katsuhiro announced, "The Jinchu Five is back in business!" They all nodded and disappeared. Korosuke was left confused.

Daisuke punched Gaku in the face, causing him to hit the floor. When Gaku tried to get up, Daisuke ran up and shoved his sword in his throat, but Gaku felt nothing. In fact, it was one of Daisuke's illusions. Gaku hurried up and began panting like a dog.

"I heard your Genjutsu was so good, people could feel the injuries left by an illusion…" he said, "You must be low on chakra." Daisuke tossed his swords at Gaku, which went by his head. They stuck out of the ground very far. "Your aim is off, too." Gaku added, grinning. Daisuke then rushed at Gaku, and they both fell to the ground. They rolled around, afraid to teleport away, because then they wouldn't have enough chakra to continue. Then Daisuke sat over Gaku and shot his chain kunai at his swords in front of him. The chain wrapped once around the blades, and back to his hand. Gaku furiously tried to push Daisuke off, but to no prevail. Then Daisuke pulled on the chain and jumped in the air, taking his weapons up with him. Gaku got up and watched as Daisuke brought the chain down, sending the blades down in an arc.

"Fang Guillotine!" Daisuke yelled.

Gaku grinned and made a hand sign, "Advanced replacement jutsu!" but before he could execute the technique, the swords multiplied by the thousands. The chains wrapped around Gaku and the blades flew back up in the air. Gaku screamed as they all rained down on him. He felt dead, so he collapsed.

"Just one of my illusions…" Daisuke said, also losing consciousness. Tsunade ran out in the middle of the arena.

"Kashime Daisuke wins due to a great Genjutsu trick!" she announced. The crowd roared and the judges wrote on their sheets of paper. "Alright! We're moving right on to the next one!" Tsunade cried, "And that's Sausuke Isshinta vs. Inouye Oiyoba!" Isshinta breathed in sharply. He looked out at his sensei. They stared at eachother until Isshinta finally got up. Oiyoba had already made his way to the center of the arena.

"Ohh, does the dog have a grudge?" Oiyoba teased. Isshinta tilted his head.

"What? I haven't even done anything." He said.

"What you've done is got the crap beat out of you by me two months ago!" Oiyoba yelled, taking to the sky. Isshinta noted he had four wings now. He ran under Oiyoba and made a hand sign. "Kagedokuryu!" he cried. His shadow lifted off the ground and chased after Oiyoba, who started flying around. "Stupid shadow! Take this!" Oiyoba yelled, throwing a bomb. It hit Isshinta, and caused him to lose his hold on his jutsu. The shadow disappeared, but Isshinta didn't seem hurt. In fact, he grinned. "What the heck you smiling at?" Oiyoba cried, throwing more bombs. Before Isshinta was struck, he became intangible and flew at Oiyoba. Oiyoba freaked out and flew up higher. He looked around and couldn't find Isshinta anywhere. Then the ground below became all black. "What the-?" Oiyoba said, curiously. He flew down twenty feet, and the black mass became a huge claw. It snatched Oiyoba and disappeared. Isshinta walked out from nowhere and sat down, waiting.

"Whoa, when did he get so good?" Saratobi asked in amazement.

"Folks, it looks like Isshinta has completely dominated this match so far!" Tsunade exclaimed. The crowd conversed for quite a while. Then, Isshinta stood up and took off his shirt, revealing his Sausuke tattoo. Oiyoba fell from the sky and was bleeding from head to toe. The Shinkan Okage reached out for its next victim, but Oiyoba gave up.

"Get him away! He's a frikkin psycho!" Tsunade ran out and blocked Isshinta and his shadow from going anywhere else. The boy put his shirt back on and frowned. He shook his head at Oiyoba and returned to the rest of the genin. The judges all quietly wrote on their notepads as Yukinari escorted Oiyoba away.

"Isshinta," Tsunade whispered, "Can I talk to you alone for a while?" Isshinta sneered and walked off to the waiting room followed by the Hokage. When they were both inside, Tsunade shut the door and locked it.

"So, what the hell do you want? I have other, more important, things to do than listen to your bitching." Isshinta said. Tsunade growled and punched him across the face, sending him to the floor.

"What happened to you? You were trying to kill Oiyoba, weren't you?" Tsunade snapped. Isshinta pressed his palm against his forehead and began laughing evilly.

"You humans…so careful not to hurt eachother and yet, so quick to jump to conclusions," He said, standing up, "But our clan knows…We all know…" Tsunade gasped and stepped back in surprise.

"It's you! Shinkan Okage!" she cried. Isshinta grinned and placed his hand on her cheek.

"Yes, I'm back, and with a new host body. It seems even that mind-reading dragon, Ryu, doesn't know I'm here." He said. Tsunade pushed his hand away and starred at him. "You know I love you, Tsunade," Isshinta said, sitting on the couch, "So I'm not going to hurt you…but tell anyone my plans, and it might be a dark life for you, if you understand that pun-like threat." Tsunade sighed and unlocked the door.

"Shinkan…" she whispered, "I should've killed you when I had the chance." Isshinta nodded.

"Yes, you should have." He replied as Tsunade went back out into the coliseum. Ryu watched as she shuffled across the floor to the judges table.

"What's up, Ryu?" Hitomi asked. Ryu closed his eyes and grinned.

"She has a strong mental block up…it's like a black storm cloud, so to speak." He said. Korosu and Saratobi looked back at the waiting room door.

"I wonder what Isshinta did? I mean he totally wasted that fat winged guy, but he didn't kill him, or anything." Saratobi said.

"Yes," Korosu muttered, "And I have a big suspicion that something terrible is going to happen." Saratobi quivered and a massive cloud covered the sun.

"This is getting too creepy!" she cried.

Saote kept on running until he reached a large clearing in the woods. He panted heavily as he looked back and forth. A figure was kneeling by a stack of children's building blocks.

"Yo, excuse me; do you know how to get to Sunagakure from here?" Saote asked. The figure stood up and faced Saote.

"Why don't you take the main road?" he asked back. Saote's ears twitched.

"Never mind!" he yelled, continuing to run. The figure opened an eye and blinded Saote by a radiant light.

"We should cancel the exams," Anko said. She and many other jonin stood in a room by the Hokage's house.

"She's right. We have way too many sightings of outlaws here right now." Ibiki agreed. Gensai, who had left the judges table after Tsunade talked with Isshinta, lifted a sheet of paper.

"Orochimaru and his two cronies have been seen wondering around. Same with the Akatsuki organization." He read. Just then, Tsunade appeared in the room, sweating all over.

"Shinkan Okage is back!" she cried. All the jonin gasped.

"So what should we do! It's like everything's spiraling down on top of us!" one shouted. Tsunade sighed and turned around.

"I'm going to let the Chunin Exams finish, but in the mean time, take all jonin and promising chunin to the gates."

Katsuhiro, Muchu, Yatsume, Sanjuro, and Satomi all waited in a dark alley until Isshinta and his jonin teacher ran up.

"Ready?" Katsuhiro asked. The two Sausuke clan members nodded.

"Art of Summoning: Shinkan Okage Shinigami!" the seven called. In an instant, a humanoid rose from the ground. Korosuke finally caught up and looked down at the summon creature.

"My goodness. The goodness belongs to me, but I'm sharing it with you all to express amazement…Amazing." He said.

Tsunade reappeared in the coliseum, smiling.

"Alright!" she said into the microphone, "Sorry about the wait! The next battle is between Hoashi Saratobi and Kashime Korosu!" The two friends gasped.

'Crap! I was hoping to out-smart my opponent! Korosu's a genius!' Saratobi thought. Korosu stood idle for awhile and then burst out in laughter.

"Korosu!" Saratobi exclaimed. 'He's never laughed before. I wonder what's up?' she thought. Korosu removed his glasses and wiped his eyes.

"Oh, that's a good one. But really, who am I fighting?" he asked. Saratobi scowled.

"This ain't a joke, I'm your opponent!" Saratobi yelled.

"Alright, if you insist…" Korosu replied, stepping out to the middle of the coliseum. Saratobi took a step back and gulped. "What? Let's go, I'd rather not wait." Korosu said. Saratobi shook her head.

"I…don't want to fight you." She whispered.

"Are you saying you forfeit?" he asked. Saratobi shook her head again. "Then, let's battle. It's not like I'm going to kill you." Korosu said, taking out a needle. Tsunade stepped in between them.

"A ninja," she began, "doesn't let emotions interfere with their skill." Saratobi nodded.

"Quit messing with your head and fight me!" Korosu cried, impatiently. Then he threw the needle around Tsunade. It pierced the wall next to Saratobi who grinned.

"Yes, let's go." Then she rushed him.

"Everyone, this is a very important matter, I guess. We're under attack by, like, every bad ninja in existence." A chunin teacher said to his cadets. Just then, one of the cadets raised his hand.

"What?" the chunin asked. The cadet lowered his hand and stood up.

"Let us fight, Shikamaru sensei!" he cried. The chunin, Shikamaru, grinned.

"You kids are getting so rebellious. You can't fight yet! You'd all die, you know?" Then a shinobi appeared in the room.

"Shikamaru, you have been required to fend for Konohagakure!" he said.

"Rock Lee, don't just appear like that…Okay, so I guess I have no choice…what a drag." The two walked outside and were greeted by many other shinobi. One with black, bird-like hair stepped out and snapped, making the ninja line up.

"I'm going to name your names off, and I want you to reply with a simple step forward. Let's get started…" he took out a clipboard. "Rock Lee…" A ninja with a bowl-cut stepped forward. "Nara Shikamaru," Shikamaru sighed and dragged his feet to take a step. "Hyuga Neji," A ninja with the same eyes as Hinata stepped forward. He seemed very serious. "Yamanaka Ino," A pretty normal-looking girl stepped forward. "Inuzuka Kiba," A ninja almost resembling Hayate stepped forward accompanied by a massive dog. "Sakura…" A girl with short hair walked by the ninja with the clipboard. "Shino, Hinata, and Naruto are all out doing something else right now. We'll be assisted by the other jonin of course. So split up!" the bird-haired ninja commanded.

"Wait, Sasuke, we should get in teams first!" Kiba cried. The ninja with the clipboard, Sasuke, turned away.

"You shouldn't have to do that anymore…"

Saote woke up and got to his feet. He looked around and realized all the buildings around him were made of blocks.

"You're up! Good!" Someone said behind him. Saote spun around and saw Raien, the shrinking and growing ninja.

"Hey, your eyes are closed!" Saote cried.

"Yes, I noticed this as soon as I was born. Thanks for reminding me." Raien replied. Saote growled and turned around.

"I gotta get outta here." He said. Raien walked up next to him.

"You're Saote, aren't you?" Saote's hair shot up.

"Gah! Everyone knows!" he screamed. Raien laughed.

"No, no, it's just…well, yeah, pretty much hit it on the dot." He said. Saote lowered his head.

"I got Konoha in a lot of trouble." He whispered.

"Yeah, the Akatsuki organization ran by last night, looking for a Jinchuuriki with a demon named Shueisha," Raien replied, scratching his chin. Saote looked back at him and frowned.

"So now what?" he asked. Raien's smile widened as he opened his right eye and caused them both to grow back to normal size.

"We're going to fight!" Raien cried.

Saote glared at him, "You're a loser, you know that?" he snapped.

"Yeah, you bastard, I know," then Raien lowered his head. "I know…"

Korosu crossed his arms.

"Your move." He said. Saratobi nodded and whipped a shuriken at him. He side-stepped it and scoffed, "The basic maneuvers won't work anymore." He said. Saratobi glanced at the judges table. Many seats were empty now. Yukinari, Zanza, Katsuhiro, Raien, the Sausuke guy, and Gensai were all gone.

'I wonder what's wrong?' she thought. Her eyes darted back and forth, looking for something, but she didn't know what. Korosu raised an eyebrow.

"Are you quite finished? I'm a trifle impatient, I'm afraid." He said. Saratobi flinched and stared at him.

"Korosu…" she whispered.

He sighed, "What?" She opened her weapons pouch and took out a thick book.

"I bought this for you." She held it out for him to take. The crowd remained silent the entire time. Korosu rolled his eyes and walked over in front of her and took the book.

"The Art of Assassinations?" he read, "Saratobi, I thought you did not approve of my brother and me killing. Why a change of heart?" She blushed.

"While I still don't want you to kill anyone, I will help you in any way I can, even…if it means giving up my life…" she replied. Korosu continued to stare down at her for a moment. Then he put the book in his pack and punched her across the face. She fell to the ground and spit out blood. Korosu turned away and rubbed his temples.

"If you want to help me so bad, than let's fight; all out, no holds barred," then he looked back at her surprised face, "Can you promise me that?" Saratobi got to her feet and stared at the floor. "Saratobi?" Korosu asked. She glanced at him and kicked him in the balls. He fell over and winced in pain.

"That's no holds barred." She said, taking out more shurikens.

Saote and Raien ran through the forest and ducked in Konoha.

"We need to pick up a friend of mine…" Raien whispered as they snuck around buildings.

"And," Saote added, "make sure Akatsuki organization doesn't find me." They entered a house and ran up a flight of stairs.

"Naruto! Let's go!" Raien yelled. A teen in nothing but a pair of boxers ran around the corner.

"What? What is it!" he asked obnoxiously.

"All out battling time, friend. This is about saving and taking lives; a survival of the fittest, a war between good and evil!" Raien screamed. Saote's ears shot back in pain. Naruto jumped and disappeared.

After a short moment, he returned, fully-dressed, "Then let's go!"

Korosu and Saratobi continued their battle with new enthusiasm. Saratobi ran at Korosu from all four sides, using cloning jutsu. Korosu jumped in the air to dodge the rush, but another Saratobi was already up there. She tried to punch Korosu down into the Saratobi mosh pit, but Korosu disappeared. Saratobi looked up and saw Korosu try to punch _her_ in the mosh pit. She blocked the kick and grabbed his leg. Korosu just grinned. They landed in the crowd and Korosu made a hand sign.

"Dispel!" he cried. All the Saratobi clones disappeared in smoke.

"How'd you do that?" asked the real Saratobi. Korosu said nothing, but took out a needle. He tossed it at her, causing her to giggle. "You said the basics won't work!" she said, but then the needle exploded and out came a humungous carrion worm. Saratobi wet her skirt and got tackled by the massive summon creature. It tried devouring her whole, but she kept stabbing the inside of its mouth with weapons.

'When he said no holds barred, he meant it!' she thought. Korosu whistled and the giant worm slithered to his side.

"Had enough?" he asked, pushing up his glasses. Saratobi got up and blushed when she realized her skirt was wet.

"Um…NO!" she cried.

Korosu grinned, "Good." He dispelled the worm and made his way over to her. She stared at him as he smiled. "Warm, isn't it?" he asked.

"Huh?" Saratobi replied, confused.

"I'm talking about the weather…warm, isn't it?" Korosu repeated. She continued to stare at him. Korosu blushed and stepped back.

"What? I'm just striking a conversation." He said. She stepped towards him, still blushing.

"To talk to me like that after you tried to hurt me…it's so…" she stepped toward him again, "so…" Saratobi leaned into him and tried to kiss him, but he took another step back. "Korosu?" she asked. His eyes darted to the left as his brother Daisuke walked out of the resting room. Then Korosu jumped back over Saratobi and landed behind her. She shrieked in surprise and received one of Korosu's poison needles to the back. He let her drop and leaned next to her.

"Forgive me…I've something to take care of." He whispered. He pushed her blue hair out of her eyes and stood up.

"Korosu…" Saratobi muttered. Then she blacked out. Tsunade entered the center of the coliseum and raised Korosu's hand.

"Kashime Korosu wins!" she announced. The once silent crowd began cheering and raving. Korosu ran to his brother and looked away.

"What?" Daisuke asked.

"We're being watched by that Henshin failure, Korosuke." replied Korosu. Daisuke looked behind him and saw a massive figure in a cloak.

"Let's chase him. He'll defiantly lead us to Muchu." He said. Then the brothers dashed toward the creature, who ducked out once Daisuke saw him. Tsunade kept glancing at a clock as she read the next set of names.

"Bakufu Zawato vs. Shimasu Satsuma…"

Sasuke and Sakura walked around a corner and saw Katsuhiro enter a store of some kind.

"He's wearing an Akatsuki cloak." Sasuke said, heading for the store. Sakura tugged on his sleeve.

"What?" Sasuke asked. Sakura pointed to the trees. "Yeah," Sasuke whispered, "It needs to rain. They need the water…I don't understand why you don't talk anymore…" he walked in the store and looked for Katsuhiro. Nobody was inside. "Hello?" Sasuke asked. Then Katsuhiro walked around the corner with his arms crossed, as usual.

"Uchiha…Sasuke, I presume? I'm Kashime Katsuhiro, an accomplice of your brother." He said. Sasuke scowled at the thought of his brother.


End file.
